diagram of a baseball field

In addition to how the innings work, one must learn how all the positions are played. Nine players play on each team in baseball.  There is:

The Pitcher, who throws the balls across home plate for the opposing team’s batter to attempt to hit.

The Catcher, who squats behind home plate and catches the Pitcher’s throws (aka pitches) and helps the pitcher decide what kind of pitches to throw using secret symbols (will explain more later)

The Infielders, which consist of First Baseman, Second Baseman, Shortstop and Third Baseman.  The all try to get the opposing team’s players out by tagging them with the baseball in hand or by throwing the baseball to the next open base and beating the batter to it.

Lastly there are three outfielders, Left, Middle and Center, who try to catch the ball should the batter hit it long.

The players who play these positions are also the same ones that rotate as batters. In the American League, a designated hitter may bat for the pitcher when it becomes the pitcher’s turn to bat. The designated hitter does not play the field, but simply bats for the pitcher and runs the bases. In the National League the pitchers must bat like every other player.

Players may be substituted during the game, but once a player is taken out of the game he may not return. 

Video of informational baseball man explaining how innings work.

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the World Series! Now that the official baseball season is over, its time to get back to the basics. First we will talk about the innings, which I have found a video to explain.

The 2010 World Series has been flying by with 3 wins by the San Francisco Giants and 1 by the Texas Rangers. The Giants first two wins were at San Francisco, followed by one Rangers win at Arlington, and then last night a win by the Giants at Arlington. Of the 7 games the World series consists of, 4 are played at the Giants home stadium and 3 are played at the Rangers (2 games in San Francisco-3 games in Arlington-2 more games in San Francisco). Home field advantage goes to which ever team whose in the league who won the All-Star Game (In this case the National League, hence home field advantage goes to San Francisco).

Game 5 is tonight and once again it is a showdown between Giant’s Pitcher Tim Lincecum and Ranger’s pitcher Cliff Lee. Texas will be fighting for their life because if they lose tonight the Giants will have won 4 games and therefore be crowned World Series champions. The Rangers are confident they can come back and win 3 more games, but the Giants have the momentum of 3 previous wins on their side. It all comes down to tonight’s game. So tune in to catch what could be the last MLB game this season, or else an awesome comeback.

Albert Pujols! I love homeruns.

Ok, so I know I said I’d start with the basics, but since the World Series is starting Wednesday night I feel obligated to talk about it now.  The World Series is the championship major league baseball.  It is a ‘series’ of 7 games, in which one team must win the majority (4 games) to be crowned the champions.  The winner of the National League and the American League are the teams that play each other in the World Series. The title of World Series is actually confusing, since the National and American leagues consist of teams located only in North America, although their players come from all over the world. 

This year the San Francisco Giants (National League) and the Texas Rangers (American League) are facing off at the World Series.  This is the Rangers first trip ever to the World Series and the Giants first trip since 2002. Giants are being led by pitcher Tim Lincecum and Rangers by pitcher Cliff Lee.  Other notable players are Buster Posey for the Giants and Josh Hamilton for the Rangers.Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum

Whether you are planning on watching the entire series or just want to catch the highlights, hopefully now you have some basic knowledge of what is going on this year.  I’ll try to write more as the World Series goes on to keep everyone updated.  Remember, the first game starts at 7:30 Eastern time so that is 6:30 Valpo time.  You can find it on FOX network. Don’t miss the beginning of the 2010 World Series! Or do, and come find out what happened the next day at my blog :)

Being born and raised in St. Louis, my favorite team is the Cardinals!

Hello Internet! My name is Martina and I am completely clueless about the game of baseball. I enjoy going to games as much as the next person, but my primary motivators for attending are 1) to get to wear my bedazzled Cardinals hat and 2) to get to eat a jumbo hot dog.  I usually sit at games and just clap when everybody else does because short of home runs I really don’t know what else there is to get excited about.  

But all this started to change nine months ago when I started dating a college baseball player.  My boyfriend was surprised at my baseball ignorance and I quickly realized that I could not BS my way through conversations and watching games on TV with him. Smiling and nodding worked for a few months, but as baseball became more serious for him I realized I needed to know what I was talking about. 

So here is my journey on trying to master the ins and outs of America’s favorite pastime. My boyfriend has agreed to let me pick his brain and answer any questions I ask, no matter how ridiculous. I promise to try to decipher the language of baseball stats and terms and put them in English so they make sense. In addition I will try to learn about what is going on in the game right now (Playoffs) and about other famous players. That being said…Play Ball!