Baseball Virgin

[Threeteas]

sorry to say it but you still are not going to get to see a real baseball game, as real baseball is played in the bronx in oct.

Whooosh, over my head, but I guess it will solicit replies from "american" folk. I guess it's a Yankees thing, or the Islanders or whoever it is that are not the Jets or the Giants, who I do know play American Football. I'm quit good on American Football actually, well for a Brit.

 

[BeemerMike]

Go on, tell me they have speed guns that do just that!

As far as I know, speed guns only for the pitches. (Methinks lamble knows more about The Game than he admits.)

 

[BeemerMike]

And there's certainly "no crying in baseball" either!

Well, other than September . . . in Chicago.

 

[sheridesabeemer]

Now it is starting to sound like jibberish. The pitcher is measured on a batting average (although he doesn't need to bat), where in 9 innings, although not 9 and certainly not 9 if the home team are winning after the away team has batted in the 9th's opener and not exceeded the home teams score of the 8th, and can sometimes be 27 although if it's good it's more likely to be 9x a number between 1 and 27 divided by another number of not greater than 9 and probably not a whole number if someone is out in the 7th, unless by the 7th the pitcher has been replaced by someone with an artificially high, or low, number. And this all depends not on the 5 pitches, but any number of pitches dependent upon what the batter does, which can vary from a base run, two bases run, a home run, a walk, a punty thing or anything else, at which point the coach runs on, spits tabacco and swears and gesticulates. We all stand up and scratch at the start of the seventh and whatever number that permutates to is given as an average to the pitcher.

Seems simple enough now. Why didn'y you just say so to start with?
So how many goals or trys equal a round?

A starting pitcher only needs to finish 5 innings to qualify for a win, it has been the trend in recent years for a team to watch the pitch count of the starter and pull them at a certain count in hopes of saving his arm for another day (usually around 100). Complete games are getting rare. However if you have a low pitch count and there is no score, or a tie score, sometimes they'll leave him in there in hopes that the offense will score a run for him, giving him the opportunity for the win.

Now, if a pitcher leaves after 5, and his team is leading at the bottom of the 5th, he can win the game if the score does not get tied. Once it's tied, the pitcher that gave up the tieing run has blown the save, but qualifies for the win (this makes no sense). But usually giving up runs as a relief pitcher gets you pulled from the game.

There are also circumstances where a pitcher has to get more than 3 outs in an inning. It usually involves an error on the defenses part, but it could be a result of the pitcher himself throwing a pass ball, where the batter swung at it for a 3rd strike, but can still end up on first if the ball gets past the catcher.

I think a retired IRS agent wrote the rules of baseball.

 

[Threeteas]

As far as I know, speed guns only for the pitches. (Methinks lamble knows more about The Game than he admits.)

I know more about speed guns!

There's a guy trying to tell me about pop flys as I'm working....it's insanity wrapped up as a rule.
Tagging a sack. Being a winning pitcher even if you are losing when you leave at the top...I know he's speaking English because I recognise the words, but not the context or order in which they are being presented.

"Walking a batter for a double play forced runner"...that's what he just said, or something similar. Even reading it back it makes not one iota of sense.

Anyway, speed guns....

 

[LTLJOHN]

Well thank the lords of baseball rules for that, otherwise they'd have set a maximum time for a pitcher to throw and you lot would have had between bases speeds added to the interminable stats sheets too. Go on, tell me they have speed guns that do just that!

Actually there is a rule about how long the pitcher has to throw the ball. Currently it is 12 seconds after the catcher throws it back to the pitcher.

 

[Threeteas]

Actually there is a rule about how long the pitcher has to throw the ball. Currently it is 12 seconds after the catcher throws it back to the pitcher.

I should have guessed that would be the case really, shouldn't I?

Is the catcher what we'd call the wicket keeper (behind the batsman and stumps), or anyone that catches it, what we'd call in cricket fielders (although they have positional names such as silly mid on, first slip, square leg, short leg and suicidal nutter...the one that stand right next to the batsman and within a bat swinging distance)?

 

[PAGoldsby]

Actually there is a rule about how long the pitcher has to throw the ball. Currently it is 12 seconds after the catcher throws it back to the pitcher.

Perhaps the least-enforced rule in baseball. The "clock" stops if the batter calls time, and I'm not sure if there's a hard-and-fast limit on the time a pitcher can take after the batter is back in the box. I think the wording in the rule is "promptly".

 

[rocketman]

Now it is starting to sound like jibberish. The pitcher is measured on a batting average (although he doesn't need to bat), where in 9 innings, although not 9 and certainly not 9 if the home team are winning after the away team has batted in the 9th's opener and not exceeded the home teams score of the 8th, and can sometimes be 27 although if it's good it's more likely to be 9x a number between 1 and 27 divided by another number of not greater than 9 and probably not a whole number if someone is out in the 7th, unless by the 7th the pitcher has been replaced by someone with an artificially high, or low, number. And this all depends not on the 5 pitches, but any number of pitches dependent upon what the batter does, which can vary from a base run, two bases run, a home run, a walk, a punty thing or anything else, at which point the coach runs on, spits tabacco and swears and gesticulates. We all stand up and scratch at the start of the seventh and whatever number that permutates to is given as an average to the pitcher.

Seems simple enough now. Why didn'y you just say so to start with?
So how many goals or trys equal a round?

I knew there was a reason I never got into baseball, now I know why! Ha Ha

this has got to the funniest thing I've read all day! (course I've been reading UNIX tech docs today so just about anything would qualify as funnier! )

Well said, Lamble

RM

 

[Threeteas]

Perhaps the least-enforced rule in baseball. The "clock" stops if the batter calls time, and I'm not sure if there's a hard-and-fast limit on the time a pitcher can take after the batter is back in the box. I think the wording in the rule is "promptly".

Are you sure that folks aren't just making this game up as they go along?

 

[12BSWAYED]

Poor Lamble....they're just trying to confuse you some. All you need to know is the basics and you'll catch on as you watch. You don't need to know the pitcher's ERA or the batters batting average to have a good time. Baseball is a bit of a cult to some people.... And yes, the Mariner's suck....big time. Hopefully you're going with someone who can explain things as the game goes along.

Have fun!!

 

[LTLJOHN]

sorry to say it but you still are not going to get to see a real baseball game, as real baseball is played in the bronx in oct.

I guess there will be no real baseball this year
GO SOX

 

[Threeteas]

Poor Lamble....they're just trying to confuse you some. All you need to know is the basics and you'll catch on as you watch. You don't need to know the pitcher's ERA or the batters batting average to have a good time. Baseball is a bit of a cult to some people.... And yes, the Mariner's suck....big time. Hopefully you're going with someone who can explain things as the game goes along.

Have fun!!

My wife is coming...we know nothing, so have just tuned into the local on demand programme about the Mariners. I think we need sub titles.

 

[Threeteas]

Watched the game on TV last night and kept up with it, in the main: what's an RBI?

What a dispirited bunch of lack-lustre losers the Mariners are.
With my recently acquired wealth of baseball knowledge here's my coaching tips. Hit the ball, just not to the other team so they can catch it. Pitch the ball so that the other team can't keep hitting it.

We will miss free bobblehead night and ladies fries night, what a shame that is.

I predict a 4-0 Tigers series win, unless someone turns the burner up on the mariners...then throws in a match. They even looked miserable before the game, or is that part of their mystique?

 

[The_Veg]

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[Threeteas]

I see the Mighty MAriners won last night. Different pitcher seems to make all the difference.

 

[12BSWAYED]

RBI=Runs Batted In.

And yes, they do look miserable don't they?? They have no spark, no chemestry amongest them and nobody on the team that's a leader. IMHO that's why they're losing.

And you've got the basics down....hit the ball where they ain't and pitch it so's they can't hit it. Pretty simple, huh?

Have fun tonight!

 

[Threeteas]

RBI=Runs Batted In.

And yes, they do look miserable don't they?? They have no spark, no chemestry amongest them and nobody on the team that's a leader. IMHO that's why they're losing.

And you've got the basics down....hit the ball where they ain't and pitch it so's they can't hit it. Pretty simple, huh?

Have fun tonight!

Like the boxer icon 12bswayed. Still able to chase cats though I hope.

Looking forward to tonights game. Not the straight forward outcome I first assumed, if last nights result was anything to go by.

 

[Threeteas]

3-2 Mariners win

I'll do a report tomorrow.

 

[PAGoldsby]

Are there inter league games during the season, or only inter divisional?
Who decides which division plays which, is it purely geographical, NW play SW, or do they all play all over the country?
Do the same divisions play each other each season or does it vary, if Y how and why?
Surely it's easier to be top of a pile of 4 than of 6, but does winning your division mean you qualify for the play-offs anyway? Could you win your division but still have a worse record that teams that didn't win their division, so miss out?
Are some divisions historically "better" than others?

There are a couple of weeks of inter-division play. You'll see a lot of regional rivalries, such as NY Mets vs. NY Yankees, KC Royals vs. StL Cardinals, etc.

During the regular season, I think that the schedule is pretty balanced among the divisions. A division champion will always advance to the playoffs. However, if there's a particularly strong division, you could have teams with, say, .600, .580, .560, .530, .500. Say the other two divisions' top teams end up .520 and .510. That would mean that there are two teams guaranteed to be in the playoffs with worse records than 80% of one division. But that's a rare and exceptional case.

You can look here to see how the regular season ended up in 2007.

The AL East is a pretty tough division, with NY Yankees, Boston and Toronto all pretty good from year to year. NL West has some good play, as well.