Baseball Virgin

[PAGoldsby]

A squeeze play sounds interesting, is there a cheerleader doused with baby oil that they have to chase and catch?

Although not doused with baby oil, in the 1970s there was a rather (!) buxom lass known as Morganna the Kissing Bandit who would make random appearances at ball yards. She would trot out on to the field (something you have to see to really, um, appreciate) and lay a smacker-roo on some player. In my recollection, George Brett (Kansas City Royals) seemed to get more than his share of visits (on and off the field) from Morganna!

 

[BeemerMike]

I knew you'd get on this one asap, Mike.

Yeah, like if I called it a soccer field, he wouldn't jump on my butt . . . excuse me, my bum.

 

[tessler]

Le Strike Zone...

 

[Threeteas]

I think perhaps you've misunderstood this scenario, as the away team is batting at the top of that inning. So if they are unsuccessful in raising their score past the home team (in their three allotted chances), there's no point in going to the bottom of the inning (as the home team has maintained their advantage).

Fershtay?

In that case, send out the home team just to rub the losers faces in the dirt. I've paid to watch 9 full innings...short changing swindlers!

 

[tessler]

The most important thing to know about baseball, and this should come naturally to a Brit, is that the Yankees suck.

Hey! And all these years I thought the Red Sox sucked!

(actually I'm a Mets fan so St. Louis is the enemy. Sorry, MOA...).

 

[BeemerMike]

In that case, send out the home team just to rub the losers faces in the dirt. I've paid to watch 9 full innings...short changing swindlers!

"Polite" short-changing swindlers.

They stop selling beer now in the eighth inning, so why hang around when the bars are still open outside the ballpark?

 

[BeemerMike]

(actually I'm a Mets fan so St. Louis is the enemy.

I knew there was some reason you sounded a little shifty.

"The Mets are pond scum." I still have the T-shirt.

 

[PAGoldsby]

Le Strike Zone...

Nice.

The batter stands in an area marked by chalk - the batter's box. This particular batter has what is known as a "backward stance," with his leading foot closer to the plate than the trailing foot. Nobody bats like this. A closed stance is when both feet will be the same distance from the plate, which is fundamentally correct. Some batters us an open stance, with their leading foot almost to the back of the batter's box. They claim they have a better view of the ball. As the ball is on the way, they'll rotate their hips to a closed stance then swing. I don't like it. It looks stupid.

 

[tessler]

I knew there was some reason you sounded a little shifty.

"The Mets are pond scum." I still have the T-shirt.

Oh baby, we gotta be talking '86... Wasn't "the Rocket" on that other team once upon a time...

Edit: Check out this hilarious Cards' fan thread about the origin of that phrase.

Nice.

The batter stands in an area marked by chalk - the batter's box. This particular batter has what is known as a "backward stance," with his leading foot closer to the plate than the trailing foot. Nobody bats like this. A closed stance is when both feet will be the same distance from the plate, which is fundamentally correct. Some batters us an open stance, with their leading foot almost to the back of the batter's box. They claim they have a better view of the ball. As the ball is on the way, they'll rotate their hips to a closed stance then swing. I don't like it. It looks stupid.

Great observation, Phil, but check this out: I got that image from the MLB website (last page of the glossary of terms I referred to before!).
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/02_definition_of_terms.pdf

 

[Threeteas]

Hey! And all these years I thought the Red Sox sucked!

(actually I'm a Mets fan so St. Louis is the enemy. Sorry, MOA...).

I did hear that the Mariners are particularly abyssmal...is that right?

Didn't Manchester United buy into or have a deal with the Yankees..is that the Glazier's baseball team?

Liverpool are also owned by some US guys, one is a Gillette, the other owns a baseball or basketball team or perhaps both.
Derby County also got bought out by an American, but he obviously knows less about football than I do about baseball, Derby are useless and just got relegated...relegation, that's something you don't go in for over here. Worst teams in one division, get replaced by best teams in a lower division. Every year the bottom three of a higher division swap divisions with the top three of the lower. Some teams just plummet from Premiere through the first to the second or third...below the third is a dark and scary place called the non-leagues. Some escape, but many teams that were once household names in the 20's or 30's now languish there, watch by moms dads and a bloke with a dog.

That's where I played.

 

[Threeteas]

Nice.

The batter stands in an area marked by chalk - the batter's box. QUOTE]

In cricket a batter's box is something completely different, although you could swing in it, if it weren't snug.

 

[PAGoldsby]

Great observation, Phil, but check this out: I got that image from the MLB website (last page of the glossary of terms I referred to before!).
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/02_definition_of_terms.pdf

Clearly whoever drew that sketch doesn't know a thing about actually playing baseball. I suspect Bud Selig.

 

[Threeteas]

I've just recalled from my vast baseball knowledge...Barry Bonds hits lots of runs but may have had some chemical help. There ends my almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the game.

 

[PAGoldsby]

In cricket a batter's box is something completely different, although you could swing in it, if it weren't snug.

There are a couple of common terms between cricket and baseball, but almost no commonality whatsoever between the two sports. Bats and balls are used, and they're both played on grass. The similarity ends there. Sort of like proper football and American football. Hard to fathom that one's derived from the other, frankly.

 

[PAGoldsby]

I've just recalled from my vast baseball knowledge...Barry Bonds hits lots of runs but may have had some chemical help. There ends my almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the game.

That's like saying the Pacific Ocean may be slightly damp.

 

[BeemerMike]

Oh baby, we gotta be talking '86... Wasn't "the Rocket" on that other team once upon a time...

Edit: Check out this hilarious Cards' fan thread about the origin of that phrase.

If by "other team" you mean the Cardinals (who, by the way, are the only MLB team with a winning record against the Yankees in the World Series), I don't think The Rocket ever played for StL.

KSHE-95. Sounds about right to me for "pond scum".

 

[Threeteas]

There are a couple of common terms between cricket and baseball, but almost no commonality whatsoever between the two sports. Bats and balls are used, and they're both played on grass. The similarity ends there. Sort of like proper football and American football. Hard to fathom that one's derived from the other, frankly.

I think I may need to enlighten further. There's no similarity between a batter's box and a cricketer's box, the latter of the two being somewhere where you should never go, especially after a hot day at the crease. Think gentleman's jewellery, meat and two veg, etc...it's for protection.

 

[Threeteas]

That's like saying the Pacific Ocean may be slightly damp.

I know what slander and libel are and how much it costs over here, that's why I've not called certain members tossers before now, despite the fact they are, or were. You know who you are!

In this case a tosser does not mean someone that propells a ball through the air, keeping on thread.

In cricket there's a seam on the ball that can be used to create spin, especially when the ball hits the ground on the way to the batsman. How is spin, curve, induced without the intervention of the ground?

 

[BeemerMike]

How is spin, curve, induced without the intervention of the ground?

Many seams on a baseball. Many ways to hold it. Many ways to throw it. All have different spins (or no spin) and curves. A good curve ball can look like it fell off of a table right in front of home plate. You cannot really see it in person at the game (unless they have a Jumbotron), but you can see it on TV (especially widescreen HDTV).

Ground? We don't need no stinking ground!

 

[Threeteas]

Many seams on a baseball. Many ways to hold it. Many ways to throw it. All have different spins (or no spin) and curves. A good curve ball can look like it fell off of a table right in front of home plate. You cannot really see it in person at the game (unless they have a Jumbotron), but you can see it on TV (especially widescreen HDTV).

Ground? We don't need no stinking ground!

But if you did have ground, then you could bowl a bouncer at 150mph and knock the batsman's head off.