Your Experience:

1. 3rd inning, “has it started?”

The American Experience:

1. They stop selling beer after the 7th inning. It’s alright to double-up before then, or take the convenient cue to exit the stadium in advanced of the rest of the crowds.

Other Details:

1. A runner at third base with no outs is a strike out situation for the pitcher. More on this later.
2. You can’t score a touchdown in baseball.
3. There are two teams, each with nine players.
4. Baseball does not have a clock. Normally, a game goes nine innings. If the home team is winning, they will not come up to bat for their last chance in the ninth inning because they have already won.
5. The home team bats second. The visiting team bats first.
6. The top of an inning is the first half of the inning when the visiting team is at bat. The bottom is the other half.
7. “At bat” means they are on offense.
8. There are 3 outs for each offensive effort in an inning (remember top, and bottom half of the inning).
9. A strike is supposed to be beneath the batters armpits, above his knees, and over the plate. If the pitcher does not throw it in this zone, as judged by the umpire behind the plate, and the batter does not swing, then it is a called ball. If the pitcher throws four balls, then that is called a “walk” and the batter can advance to the 1st base.
10. The umpire, even if they are not correct, will usually be consistent through out the course of a game.
11. Teams score by rounding all four bases, and hitting home base.
12. A batting average of .275 or above, is reasonable.
13. A batting average of .300 is considered an excellent hitter.
14. A batting average above .330 is in contention to be the best in the league. Left handed batters hit better against right handed pitchers, and vice versa. That is why many of the best hitters are lefties, because there are so many more right handed pitchers.
15. A person with the best On Base Percentage (OBP) leads off the batting order for a team.
16. OBP (On Base Percentage) is arguably more important than a batter’s batting average, because it takes into account walks as well as hits. It is the total number of times the batter has reached base, divided by the number of “at bat” attempts they have made (there are some caveats as to what constitutes an “at bat”).
17. Comparing statistics, especially statistics across different eras of baseball is a great way for kids to be introduced into the philosophy of the meaning of numbers, as well as the practical arithmetic of understanding them.
18. Person with ability to sacrifice, and move a base runner into scoring position is second in the batting rotation. People with the ability to sacrifice, are usually also pretty good contact hitters, with a reasonable batting average, so they very well may also get on base without causing an out (which of course is even better than a sacrifice).
19. A sacrifice is a hitting event where the person hitting the ball makes an out for themselves, but in doing so, advance other base runners.
20. The best batter on the team hits third. Guarantees they will be up in the first inning. This is probably someone with some combination of the best batting average, best OBP, or the best slugging percentage.
21. The “clean-up” hitter bats fourth. One of the best batters on the team, and usually has power to hit the ball deep enough to score a base runner.
22. Pitcher bats last, because they usually stink at hitting. They spend their time honing pitching skills. A pitcher that can hit .200 is pretty good.
23. Base runners are protected from being tagged out while they are touching a base (some caveats on this later for people running to 1st base).
24. Left hand hitters are usually better because there are more right handed pitchers.
25. Sometime the pitcher will throw an “intentional walk”. This is usually because there is a person on second base, and they want to fill in the bases. Having all bases covered, allows the defense to throw a ground ball to any base, and get a “force out”. Sometimes they will walk people as well because the person batting is too much of an offensive threat, and the person following them is a much easier person to get out.
26. A foul ball counts as a strike. But, you cannot gain the third strike (strike out) by fouling a ball off.
27. A force out can happen at any base, where all previous bases are filled. For instance, when a batter hits a ball, the force out is to 1st base. If there was a person on 1st base already, a force out could be to 2nd or 1st base, because the person on 1st is required to advance.
28. Baseball has many intricacies which is why America has dominated the world economy for so long, and why other countries with inferior, more simplistic games are unable to compete on the world stage.
29. A “sacrifice fly” does not count as an “at bat”. Sometimes they even do it on purpose. Neither to “sacrifice hits”, but those are ones that aren’t caught in the air.
30. A “sacrifice fly” is any time a ball is hit, and after it is caught causing an out, one-or-more base runners advance on the bases.
31. The “ace” is the best starting pitcher on the team.
32. Batting = Hitting
33. A “suicide squeeze” is a little too advanced for you
34. The batting coach walks slowly to the pitching mound in order to allow the relief pitcher to warm his arm up.
35. A home run is when the batter hits the ball into the crowd between the foul ball lines.
36. A grand slam is when all of the bases have runners on them, and the person at bat hits a home run, causing 4 runs to come in. Every boy plays this scenario out in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the World Series in their heads when they are younger.
37. The pitcher is the person that is on the mound. It’s ok to drink too much, stand on your seat, and yell, “we want a pitcher, not a belly itcher”.
38. A pitcher is “ahead in the count” when he has more strikes than balls. If a pitcher is ahead in the count, they will likely throw a pitch on the edge, or outside of the strike zone in hopes the batter will make an attempt to hit it. Because this is more difficult for the batter, there is a greater likely hood that they will not have a successful “at bat”.
39. If a pitcher is “behind in the count”, that means that he has thrown more balls than strikes. This will often increase the likely hood, especially if there are three balls thrown already so as to not give up a walk, that the pitcher needs to throw a more controlled pitch, and within the strike zone. This gives the batter an advantage, as they may expect a fast ball.
40. 90 feet is how far the bases are apart. That’s 27.4ish meters. A meter is somewhat like a yard if you watch real football (but that’s another discussion)
41. If a base runner is 90 feet from scoring, that means they are on 3rd base.
42. There are 4 bases: home plate (where the batter stands), 1st base (where “Who” stands), 2nd base, and 3rd base. The four bases are called a diamond.
43. A single means the batter got a hit, and made it to 1st base without being thrown out.
44. A double means the batter got a hit, and made it to second base without being thrown out.
45. A triple means the batter got a hit, and made it to third base without being thrown out.
46. A triple is more rare than even a home run because it requires the ball to be hit far, or into an undefended area, and the base runner to be swift.
47. “Scoring position” means any base runner that is on 2nd, or 3rd base because at that position, a well placed hit may be enough for them to run to home and score.
48. Base runners must touch all bases.
49. “He got a good jump” often means the base runner is attempting to steal a base, and he timed it well. It could also mean, in a “hit-and-run” play, that the base runner began running early as the ball was being tossed to the batter.
50. “The tying run is at the plate” means that if the batter, and all the base runners score, then the game will be tied.
51. A game typically 9 innings.
52. If it is a tie after the 9th inning, then the baseball game goes into extra innings (instead of each team just agreeing that it was a fun match, and everyone going away a winner).
53. In a normal game, a pitcher can make up to 27 strikeouts. Anything over 10 is a pretty good day.
54. A relief pitcher helps the starting pitcher, or another relief pitcher finish the game.
55. An “ground rule double” means that the ball was in the legal field of play, and then exited into someplace unfieldable (usually that means it bounced into the stands). The batter, and each base runner is awarded to advance 2 bases.
56. Sometimes “ground rule doubles” suck because a person on base would often had scored.
57. Bunting is when a batter holds his bat in front of the pitch, instead of swinging. They hope to tap the ball somewhere where it is difficult to field.
58. Usually people bunting is done in an attempt to make a “sacrifice bunt”. (remember sacrifice?). A sacrifice bunt’s usual goal is to advance another runner on base.
59. Usually after a third strike the batter is out, except if the catcher does not catch the ball. In that case, the batter can run to 1st base. In my life, I have witnessed this exactly one time. It’s kind of an arcane pointless rule.
60. The catcher is the person in the safety gear that catches the pitch from the pitcher.
61. The catcher’s glove is called a mitt.
62. The catcher’s mitt is often used to teach young boys about women’s body parts.
63. The first baseman often tall, and right handed. This is not a particularly athletic position. Tall because he has to stretch in order to keep his foot on the base when many balls are tossed at him during the course of the game. Right handed because that means the glove is on his left hand which keeps his catching hand on the right side of the body during a defensive play. It is easier for a pitcher to throw a “pick off” play to a left handed 1st baseman. Given that a first baseman doesn’t need to be particularly athletic, and they need to be big, they are often power hitters.
64. The right side of the infield is slightly open when there is a person on 1st base because the the 1st baseman may choose to “cover” the base by being near enough to catch a “pick-off” attempt from the pitcher. This can be advantageous for a left handed hitter who are more likely to hit the ball in that direction.
65. No one knows what qualifies a person to be third baseman, but they are usually better fielders than the outfielders.
66. The center fielder is usually one of the fastest persons on the team. He will cover the most area in the outfield.
67. Outfielders aren’t necessarily the best fielders on the team. They are often good hitters however.
68. A “balk” happens when a pitcher begins his wind-up to throw home, but stops. This is illegal for some reason because the rules are skewed in order to allow for more exciting offense, and it would make it too easy to pick off a runner attempting to steal a base.
69. There are other rules regarding a balk, but no one really understands them.
70. A “pitchers duel” is when there is a low scoring game, with few hits.
71. A “can-of-corn” is a statement that is only recognized by people over 40, and only used by people over 60. It means, an easy pop-up play to be fielded.
72. A “pop-up” is when the ball is hit high, and is usually fieldable.
73. They say the batter has the advantage if he has fouled off a lot of pitches. You be the judge.
74. Baseball stadiums used to sell just crap beer, and hot dogs.
75. The Giants stadium is quite nice. Modern stadiums all followed the lead of Camden Yards in Baltimore. Many of the mid-century stadiums were basically shit.
76. A fast ball is a pitch that is thrown basically straight, and quickly.
77. A fast ball is usually in the upper 80s to low 100s miles per hour.
78. An “off speed pitch” is a tactical pitch that is thrown to a batter when they may be expecting a fast ball. It uses the same grip, and motion, but is thrown slower in the hopes that the batter will be tricked into swing too early.
79. “Waving off” means that the pitcher is denying the suggested pitch from the catcher.
80. The catcher usually suggests a pitch with a signal form his hands in front of his catch. The pitcher either agrees, or disagrees.
81. A walk doesn’t count as an “at bat”. Neither does a sacrifice. Or a hit batter.
82. If the pitcher hits the batter, then the batter is awarded a base runner.
83. A “curve ball” is a pitch.
84. It’s a “game of inches”, but that is really true with most games.
85. A “walk is as good as a hit” isn’t really true. The batter is now a base runner, and there are no more outs, but if there was another base runner on base, especially if they were on base, they may have not been able to advance as far as they could have otherwise.
86. A baseball game is usually less than 3 hours. Actually, the average is 2 hours, and 50 minutes.
87. The first inning is often the longest as the starting pitchers, are getting acquainted.
88. “Chin music” is when a pitcher throws a ball near a batters head. This is usually used as a tactic to move the batter further away from home plate, and make it difficult for them to reach pitches. It is also used to break the concentration of the hitter. Sometimes it hits them in the head, and a fight breaks out.
89. “Brushing them off the plate” is pretty much the same thing as “chin music” but it might not necessarily be targeted at the head.
90. A base runner can “get caught napping” if they are leading off of their base, and the pitcher or catcher throws the out.
91. “Leading off” a base is different than “leading off” in the batting order. Leading off a base means that you are positioning yourself between your current safe base, and the next base you would like to achieve. This gives you a few steps in advance. It also positions you to steal a base.
92. “Tossing it around the horn” is a ritual that infielders do after they “record an out”. They usually toss to each position in the infield minus the catcher, in descending order from 3rd base, and then finally to the pitcher: 3rd base, shortstop, 2nd base, 1st base, pitcher.
93. A double-play is when the defensive team gets two players out in a single play.
94. Usually a double-play happens when there is a base runner on 1st base, and the batter hits the ball in the infield, allowing the fielders to get both players out at once. This is not the only way for it to happen.
95. A triple-play is when all three outs are recorded in a single play. These are extremely rare. The Twins once did it twice in a game I was watching… at least I think they did.
96. There are two major leagues in the Major Leagues: The American League, and the National League
97. Most American cliches are about baseball.
98. Right field is from the batters perspective. So is left field.
99. The “warning track” is the dirt strip in front of the outfield fences that let fielders notice they are about to collide if they are running for a ball.
100. The batter can overrun 1st base after a hit in order to out-run a defensive play against them. If the batter touches 1st base before the ball arrives to the defensemen’s glove, then the batter is safe, even if he runs past the bag. That isn’t true on 2nd or 3rd base, and of course the base runner has scored once they arrive at home.
101. In Major League baseball, the batters can only use wood bats.
102. The first baseman’s glove is slightly modified to specialize in hard throws, as opposed to other fielder’s gloves that are designed for fielding balls.
103. You will want to teach your sons how to play baseball if you want them to be Americans, and to succeed later in life.
104. Going to a baseball game is a great way to update your Facebook status.
105. You can understand the full drama that is unfolding in a baseball game simply by listening to a description. This is why it works well on radio. Other sports require television to sort out the nonsense.
106. The “Seventh Inning Stretch” is when they play “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. All Americans should cry a little bit.
107. The Milwaukee Brewer’s are called this because Milwaukee was home to many German immigrants that brought with them their brewing tradition. These are the beers that are commonly associated with American Piss Water beers such as Pabst, Old Milwaukee, Miller, Michelob, Blatz, Shlitz (gives you the shitz), et cetera. These aren’t to be confused with the Anneheuser Busch family that owned the St. Louis Cardinals southwest of Milwaukee, and on the Mississippi river that gave the world the American version of Budweiser. Btw, the Czech version is not much better.
108. Fidel Castro once tried to join the Washington Senators, but didn’t make the cut. That’s actually a myth, but many things about history are built on lies. This might be true, the Senators moved to Minnesota, and were renamed the Twins in 1960. The Griffith family wanted to move to Minnesota because there were more white people.
109. Hank Aaron played for the Milwaukee Braves, which then moved down to Atlanta. Milwaukee eventually replaced that team with the brewers.
110. The Oakland Athletics use to be the Philadelphia Athletics.
111. The New York Yankees have basically won a quarter of all World Series, and have been in nearly half of them. That is whey everyone hates the Yankees.
112. The World Series is a best of seven game series between the best American League team versus the best National League team that is played each year. Besides Toronto, it’s doesn’t really bring in much of the rest of the world however. Just the part that matters.
113. Baseball teams are scheduled to play 162 games a year. 81 at home, and 81 visiting other teams.
114. If a baseball team wins 90+ games in a year (which is barely above .500), they have a pretty good chance at winning their division, and advancing into the playoffs.
115. The best starting pitchers usually win between 15-20 games a year.
116. If a baseball gets a scuff, the umpire will replace it. The idea is, you don’t want to give the pitcher an advantage because it will cause the baseball to move oddly during a pitch, or to create distracting marks on the ball as it is approaching homeplate.
117. Sometimes pitchers will spit on a ball (a spitball), put Vaseline on it, or scuff it with an emory board. This is against the rules, and they will be ejected from the game for it, and maybe suspended from playing future games. All of this is to gain extra movement on the ball during a pitch.
118. A “knuckleball” is a certain kind of pitch where the grip is similar to how it is named. The deliver works in that the pitcher avoids spin on the ball, and the lack of spin can cause the ball to have unpredictable motion.
119. A “pitch out” is a defensive tactic where the pitcher will throw the ball to a predetermined spot where batter cannot hit it, but the catcher will be in a good position to throw out a base runner, especially if the base runner is attempting to steal a base.
120. Fielders are said to have an error if they could have reasonably fielded a ball, but fail to do so, and a player advances a base.
121. A pitcher is said to have a “wild pitch” if he throws something that the catcher cannot field.
122. If a fielder has an error, the at bat is not counted as a hit for the batter. It is counted as an out as far as his batting average is concerned.
123. The same is true if, when a batter hits a ball, the fielder decides to throw a person out at a different base. That is called a “fielders choice”, and also does not count as a hit in the batters average.
124. Batting average is the number of total hits a batter gets divided by the number “at bats” they’ve had over the course of a season. Things like walks, being hit by a pitch, or sacrifice hits don’t count as “at bats”.
125. ERA (earned run average) for a pitcher. It is compared against a 9 inning game, even if the pitcher didn’t throw throw that long. If a pitcher has an ERA of under three, it is generally good.
126. Baseball fields are not uniform. The infield diamonds are, but he outfields all have their own dimensions.
127. The number of “at bats” a hitter has is how many times they have gone to the plate without being walked, hit by a pitch, hits a sacrifice.
128. RBIs (ribbies, runs batted in) is a statistic that counts how many runs have scored as a result of a hitters batting performance. Over a hundred in a year is excellent. The RBI includes the batter if he hits a home run, and drives himself home.
129. A relief pitcher can get a “save” if the ballgame was within three runs when they began pitching, and they were already winning.
130. A “closer” is a relief pitcher who usually comes into a game in the last inning when their team is winning.
131. Sabermetrics refers to statistical analysis of baseball play.
132. Take the “easy out”. That usually means throw it to first base. Teams want to get the most advanced runner out, but since people on base are often already running by time a ball is hit, it can be more difficult to get them out.
133. Several people have hit four home runs in a single game, but no one has ever hit five.
134. The U.S. military designed grenades to be the size, and weight of a baseball, because any young man should be able to accurately toss it.
135. Most home runs are hit about 350 to 450 feet. It is usually about 100 mph off of the bat, at an angle of around 25-35 degrees.
136. If you can’t tell how far the baseball is hit, watch the fielders, they’ll usually appear to line up for a catch if it isn’t going to be a home run.
137. In baseball, the guys who enforce the rules are called umpires.
138. There are 30 major league teams.
139. The American League has a “Designated Hitter” (DH) whom bat in place of the pitcher. This increases offensive interaction, but makes the endgame tactics less interesting. In the National League, the manager will often have to swap pitchers out, who are uniformly bad hitters, even if the pitcher is still doing well on the mound.
140. A “1-2-3 inning” is one where the pitcher gets all three batters out in consecutive order.
141. Retires = Get’s out
142. A strike is counted if the pitcher throws it correctly in the zone (above knees, below armpits, over base), or if the batter swings at the ball, or if the batter make contact with the ball, and ball goes foul. If the pitcher gets three strikes, the batter is out. The caveat is, a batter cannot strikout on a foul ball.
143. Bag = Base
144. “The count” is the number of balls, and strikes against the current batter.
145. Dinger = Goner = Home run = Homer
146. “Full count” means the batter has three balls, and two strikes against him.
147. A fielder can catch a foul ball for an out.
148. A “pinch hitter” is someone that replaces the scheduled hitter at the next “at bat”. The person that is being replaced cannot return to the game, so the pinch hitter, or someone else will have to fill the person’s role in defense as well. At the end of a National League game, you will witness many substitutions in a close game as managers avoid having their pitchers hit.
149. A “pinch runner” is someone who replaces a base runner. Same rules for having to replaces the person as when there is a “pinch hitter”. They mainly would do this if the person hitting has a good chance “at bat”, but they would prefer a faster runner on base.
150. 20+ home runs a year makes you a power hitter. 30+ is really strong. Babe Ruth hit 714 in his career. Hank Aaron hit 755. Barry Bonds hit 762.