How important is cardiovascular exercise for playing baseball and softball?

Baseball and softball require cardiovascular strength and endurance. Games require a large number of stop and start actions and often last a couple of hours. This demands energy from both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Better conditioned players will show fewer effects of fatigue in a single game as well as over the course of a long season. Also, better conditioned players are less likely to suffer heat-related illnesses from playing outdoors during the warm summer months.