One of the favourite destinations for Aussies, aside from their go-to pokies haven Aussie online casino, is the United States. Aussies love the thousands of kilometers of hiking trails, mountains, seashores, big cities, small country towns, the widest variety of music in the world, and sports. Possibly the least appreciated of all American sports is baseball. It has some affinity with cricket but the key words here are “some” and “affinity”. The two sports are vastly different. This blog is a callout to Aussies travelling in the US to go to a baseball game.
Major Leagues; Minor Leagues
In most big American cities there is one team that plays in one of the two major leagues. Some cities have two teams. The major leagues are the best leagues. Tickets to these games are expensive and those that are available may be far from the main action.
There are many minor leagues covering hundreds of teams in five levels of play. Many small towns which in the US may be cities of 100,000 down to genuine hamlets have a minor league team. Tickets are a lot cheaper, easier to come by, and you’ll be sitting closer to the action. However, if you get the chance, securing World Series Tickets could provide an unparalleled experience of witnessing the pinnacle of baseball competition in the US. We love minor league baseball but if you’re only going to be in a big city, by all means go to a major league game if you can.
Batter
The man who carries the club is called the batter. The club is called the bat. He stands in the batter’s box and waits for the pitcher to throw the ball. He can swing or let the ball go. The umpire decides if the pitch is a ball or a strike. Four balls award the batter first base. Three strikes and he’s out.
Out
The batter is the offence for his team. Unlike in cricket, he completes his job relatively quickly and is replaced by another batter until their team makes three outs. That ends that team’s inning. The teams switch sides and the game continues in that manner. Three outs; switch sides.
Innings
A game goes nine innings but if it’s tied after nine innings it continues until someone wins.
Runs
The object of the game is to score the most runs. Teams score runs by going around the bases which you can easily see from anywhere in the stands. In most cases, a team will score a run by having a batter get to first base and then get around the bases incrementally. The strategy on offence is how to get around the bases and the strategy on defense id how to prevent that.
Foul Lines
From where the batters stand, two lines go out at an angle. If a batter hits a ball outside these lines it is “foul” and usually it is not played. Most incremental advances around the bases are made by balls hit inside the lines called “fair” balls.
Pitches
Most pitchers have three pitches: a fastball, a slow pitch called a change-up, and a pitch that changes direction at the last second called a breaking pitch. A pitcher can have a breaking pitch that “breaks” too soon or too late and then the pitch is useless. Pitchers use these pitches to confuse and fool batters. Without that element, batters would easily hit even the fastest pitches.
The Beauty of Baseball
Baseball is unlike cricket in that the batter rarely sees as many as ten pitches. The pitchers are so good even at the lowest level in the minor leagues that a batter who hangs on for ten pitches is said to have had a great “at bat”. Within a few pitches the batter will be either safe at a base or out. Each out is valuable to the defence because the offence’s inning ends with three outs.
140 KPH
Many pitchers throw their fastball at about 140 kph give or take a kph or two. The batter has less than one half second to decide whether he should try to hit it or not. If he hits the ball, it could fly off his bat at similar speeds. Defensive players often must go from standing still to full speed running to catch a ball that was hit 100 metres from where they were standing.
Baseball is a game played at high speed but the speed is deceptive. Eye-hand coordination may be more difficult in baseball than in other sports. A batter is said to be in the top level of all batters if he makes an out “only” 70% of the time.
Baseball is played with 25-man teams, with custom baseball uniforms often being made to help the team form a strong identity. Every player gets a lot of playing time, not in every game but in many games. There is not free substitution so, once a player has been removed from the game, he’s out of the game. The best offensive players in baseball don’t get more than four or five chances to help their team each game. Similarly, the best pitchers can’t pitch in every game and teams play baseball almost every day from April to the end of September.
A baseball team that wins 60% of its games is having a great season.
Minor League Players
There are basically three types of minor league players. The first is young players getting experience against weaker competition before playing in the major leagues. The second is players who have little or no chance to reach the major leagues but love baseball and may be learning the game toward a career as a coach or manager. The third is former major league players who are hoping for the chance to replace a major leaguer sidelined by injury or poor play.
It has been said that minor league players simply lack the consistency that major league players have. Watching young guys play baseball in a country-like setting with easy conversation available from the neighbourly types sitting next to you is a true American experience unlike any other.
