@Exilium; Even in Ireland it's popularity is eclipsed by our variant of football, and I think that situation is similar to your football <-> baseball relationship in that while all sports evoke passion, some are held in hearts more like a religion than a fun pastime to its core adherents. There have always been hurlers in America from the Irish Diaspora, but I believe it's gaining more traction recently, probably due the internet, and it's being played in Universities and even the armed forces. Of course I would love to see it going worldwide as long as it retains it's amateur ethos - which is as important as any other aspect of the game - an ethos I know hasn't survived in baseball, yet my impression of that sport is that it retains
something of it nevertheless.
The balls... good question, I doubt I can compare them to my satisfaction, although I did get a chance before. They'd be the same size, baseball is smoother and has much more bounce. A sliotar is 4 ounces with a cork core, no padding, immediately covered with leather. They tried rubber core once but too much bounce. If you tried to bounce the ball on packed earth you'd get no more than a foot. Yeah, catching the ball incorrectly, with your fingers rather than palm, can result in fractures, but tbh probably the least of a players concerns. Some wear tight fitting slightly padded gloves.
Similarly other materials have been tried for the hurley since the Ash woods were decimated at one point, plastic, even aluminium has been tried, but ash is by far the best and remains the rule. I suspect a baseball bat is much more durable due its shape, hurls break a lot even with a metal strip round the striking head. In the end we just did a lot of replanting
@Blothulfur; I wouldn't be at all surprised the Vikings had their own version, though I've never heard it referenced, and it's certain the various settlers absorbed the local games. Honourable mention should go to Scottish Shinty, another great sport, and the hurling wikipage says Northern England had a similar called Bandy. But I think you know my general attitude to these things. It's likely the Irish only retain stuff once common throughout Europe, thanks in part to you diabolical English foolishly not recognising the indomitable stubbornness of the Gaels.
And aye, the fact that a working class man can't afford to take himself or his kids to the saturday match, nevermind purchase the sweatshop kits, is a crying shame.