[QUOTE=Anbesol]Various apertures will have various applications, often times, f8 is ideal - even in outdoor sports (plenty of bright sun light to achieve a 1/500th shutter even at f8). The aperture you want to use will depend on the angle and range of the shot - distance of subject, distance between subject and background, etc etc. F8 has plenty of uses, one such use is to squeeze light through the lens sweet spot, eliminating many lens problems that present themselves shooting wide open. Sometimes an f2.8-f5.6 aperture is ideal, sometimes f8, for more close-up telephoto photography in bright light sports, f8 quite often is more appropriate. The popping action of the softer bokeh won't make a difference if its only the baseball players shins that are in focus as he slides home.[/QUOTE]

If you are close enough to the action that only the shins are in focus, you are too close to get the shot. I rarely can get much closer than 100 feet from the action at a baseball diamond.

With my 70-200mm lens 200mm at f2.8 my DOF is just a touch over 8 feet. At f8 it's 23 feet. If you can't get an entire baseball player in an 8 foot DOF then you have a problem. Having everyone and everything in focus for 23 feet will not make much for much of an action shot.

With my 300mm f2.8 I still have over 3.5 feet of DOF at 100 feet. If I'm using my 400 f2.8 I am further back that 100 feet or shooting closeups of players/coaches.

Whether I am shooting BBall at Allen Field House or on the side lines at an OU or OSU football I am generally shooting wide. Same thing at Eck Stadium with baseball. The action is critical in a sports shot and the photo must draw your eye to the action to have it better than the average run of the mill snapshot.