Quote:
Originally Posted by smc
The wonderful Hockey thread has had a lot of baseball discussion of late. I suspect there are some members who want to find the excellent updates about matches without having to scroll through me, transjen, and shadows talking about the Red Sox and the Phillies. So, I'm starting this thread for baseball discussion.
I am a baseball fanatic. What I love about baseball the most is what those who "hate" baseball hate the most: its slowness. There's a reason baseball is called "America's pastime." It's not just because of how widely it was played in the 19th century, when it earned that name. It's also because you can pass a lot of time. Unlike clock sports, baseball unfolds at whatever pace a given game has. In between the action of a pitcher throwing the next pitch, for example, a real lover of baseball has the opportunity to speculate/imagine a nearly unlimited number of possibilities. What kind of pitch will he throw? is the batter swinging or taking? Is there a steal on? Should the batter bunt? Should he go for the fences? Is an opposite-field hit in order? Why is the left fielder shading to the right? Should the second baseman or shortstop take a throw to second? Etc. Etc. Etc.
My team is the Red Sox. I've been a rabid Sox fan all of my life. I go to as many games as possible at Fenway, and I rarely miss a game on the radio or TV if I'm not at the ballpark. I travel to other cities to see Sox games, and last season went to Sox games in Baltimore, New York, Cleveland, Toronto, Kansas City, and Oakland.
Let's have a fun and spirited discussion, just like we've been having about hockey.
Go Red Sox!!
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smc, you started a baseball thread and in little over 4 hours it's already up to 26 posts.
As a fan of another game of
slowness, cricket, it's clear I was always going to be an instant convert to baseball. I just had to learn the rules and jargon of the game. And then try to pick up the various strategies and oddities... why/when attempt to steal, why would a batter intentionally get out (the sac fly), that a pitcher can only enter the game for one batter and possibly only one pitch, when to bunt, etc.
But if you think baseball has a nice slow pace, try Test Match Cricket (the five day version of the game). You play roughly 6 hours per day, and after five days you can still have a drawn match. Sometimes, for one team, holding on for the draw actually
feels like a win.
England clung on for the draw in the 1st Test Match against South Africa just before Xmas, and today they are aiming to do it again in the 3rd Test. Fortunately we thrashed the South Africans in the 2nd Test.
In recent years to speed cricket up a bit, a new version of the game was invented, called
Twenty20, when batting each team faces a maximum of 120 deliveries. The game should only last approx 3 to 3.5 hours, suitable for fans to watch on a summer evening after work.
Note: Less than 100 days until the start of the 2010 regular season.
