New WordPress Blog
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:43pm Under Baseball
0
Related posts
By admin Add comment
New WordPress Blog
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
Related posts
By admin Add comment
Fantasy Baseball Taking a Full Swing
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
Fantasy baseball, in all it’s incarnations and iterations may seem a little unwieldy to the uninitiated, but it’s really not that difficult to participate in, just requires a little time and persistence to get started. Many camps seem to have a myriad of rules, regulations and procedures to follow. However; it wouldn’t have the following it does, if it wasn’t easy enough for the average beer swilling baseball fan to engage in. Don’t even get me going on the stats these guys compile, I don’t know what it is about baseball fans that makes them so obsessed with statistics. Although I’m sure Freud would have some fantasy theory as to how it all works. Oh, how I do digress, on with the article, and less about my little obsessions.
In The Beginning - AKA The Draft
So, it all begins with the draft. No not the kind that comes in a pint (later after we’ve won), I’m talking about the selection of players for your team. Having a great draft, really comes down to a couple of things. Current statistics, and past performances. The trick is to balance the two, and to know what weight to apply to each so you make the optimal picks. This of course requires a good knowledge of past performance, and experience. The past performance is easy to get, just ask your best baseball buddy, where he gets his info, or do some internet searches. Is there anything not on the net these days? I can’t really help with the experience part, actually nobody can, not even the internet. Your just going to have to get out there play a few fantasy baseball games, and lose some of your hard earned cash to gain good experience. After all, it’s not winning or losing that counts . . . it’s how much money I win off you that really matters.
Research - Rocket Science for Fantasy Baseball Nuts
This could kinda go back under the draft section (no not the pint draft - later, much later), but it’s really important enough to warrant it’s own section, and since it’s my article, that’s how I’m gonna do it. Experience is beneficial here, but even if it’s your first time, you should still do it, as it will be something to build upon in future years. At the very least you’ll learn what now to do from your abysmal past disasters. Come up with some sort of grading system utilizing factors such as the worth of a player to their team, and not just how well they play as an individual. Flexibility is key here, so as some of your choice selections are grabbed by other players, you can react and still put together a winning team. Spontaneity is what makes life (and Fantasy Baseball) interesting you know.
Ouch! Hey That Hurts.
Yep, injuries happen, and yes, it hurts. But hey, if there were no surprises, what fun would that be. Everyone has to deal with injuries at some point. Players, owners, managers, coaches, and fantasy baseball fanatics. While it can be exasperating at best, there’s always a good and bad way of dealing with things. Maybe it’s time to consider trades. Perhaps, there’s some unproven guys on the bench you could swap for a great player, that’s just dying to play for your team. Maybe there’s someone on waivers who could step it up, and play like a start for a short period of time. Just keep an eye on those fantasy baseball future Rookie of The Year hiding on your bench, I’d hate to be the one that let him get away.
Bottom Of The 9th
Just a couple of things to remember before we head off for that pint. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the free agent pool. Of course you won’t be the only one keeping tabs on it, strategy is important here. Also when you do decide to make trades, use the ole’ noggin. That’s what your momma gave it to you for. There’s nothing worse then making a bad trade, that lets the other guy grab all the glory. Keeping track of the rising and slumping hitters will be a big help here.
Time to head off for that pint, but if you need more help about Fantasy Baseball, check out my site at Fantasy Baseball.
Author: Chris Campbell
Keywords: baseball, fantasy baseball
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
The Incredible Wiffle Ball Bat
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
Is there a better backyard game than playing wiffle ball with an official wiffle ball bat? I can remember as a kid playing wiffle ball day after day during the summer in our neighborhood. What started in the 1950’s has sure exploded today.
There are now so many competitive wiffle ball leagues throughout the U.S. it just continues to grow. Do you know how the game of wiffle ball got its start?
It all began back in the early 1950’s when David A Mullany his good friends would get together play in the yard. Instead of using a hard they used an old plastic golf ball along with a broom hle for a bat. (No wiffle ball bat yet) Haven’t we all done that before? Well, trying to throw a curveball with a plastic golf ball just doesn’t work out too well
David’s father got an idea to change all that. He had used to be a semi-pro player knew a lot about pitching. He went down to a local factory took some plastic tooling designs came home with a plastic ball. Using a knife he cut eight oblong perforations into one half of the ball tested it out.
The ball curved beautifully without a lot of effort. They had what they wanted for their game. Of course, what they didn’t know at that time was that they had a whole new way of playing ! A year later they began packaging selling their wiffle balls.
Today, they are sold literally around the world. The name for wiffle ball came from the fact that a swing a miss in is called a whiff. And because it can be difficult to hit a curving wiffle ball, the name was a natural for it.
The game itself is very simple. The only equipment is the ball the bat. There is no need for gloves, uniforms, or cleats. As for the wiffle ball bat, they are manufactured for the wiffle ball company by someone else. The stard yellow wiffle ball bat is 30 long only 1.25 in diameter. It is made as a hard hollow plastic.
There are many other types brs of plastic bats, but the wiffle ball bat is the one I would stick with. Not only is it a little tougher to hit, but it makes the game more fair. If you are using one of those jumbo orange bats then you’re not playing a real game.
The original yellow wiffle ball bat has the pop the crispness that all other bats lack. I have also seen others using a metal wiffle ball bat, but again, that is a little unfair to pitchers the game in general. Plus, it can easily break the wiffle ball itself with its power.
The original wiffle ball rules are still available from the company today. You can write to them have them sent to you. Here is the company address. The Wiffle Ball Inc., PO Box 193, Shelton, CT 06484.
Wiffle ball is just flat out fun exciting for both kids parents as well. Hopefully you have taken the opportunity to play the game yourself.
You can find out more about the Wiffle Ball Bat as well as more information on all types of bats at http://www.Ball-Bats.InfoFromA-z.com
Author: Terry Edwards
Keywords: wiffle ball bat, wiffle ball, plastic bat, whiffle ball
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
If You Want To Play Baseball Here Are Some Must Haves
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
Baseball is America’s pastime. To play the game there are a few basic pieces of equipment that everyone must have on hand. For most, this equipment is common knowledge, but some may be less familiar with the terminology and rules.
Every game revolves around a baseball bat and a ball. The ball contains a cork center that is wrapped in string and then covered with a layer of leather that is then stitched up. The bat is made of metal or wood, usually maple or ash. Metal bats are not allowed in professional games, but many minor league and Little League teams allow them.
In the game of baseball, the pitcher throws a ball to the man standing at home plate. That person is called the batter, and his goal is to hit the ball. The bases or plates are set up in a diamond shape a certain distance from one another. As the ball is hit, the batter runs to each base in order from home to first, second, third, and back to home.
Everyone on the team needs a baseball mitt. This protects the players’ hands from the impact of the ball. Catchers have a special mitt with additional padding and a wider span. Some players choose to put on an additional glove underneath the glove for added protection.
Batters wear batting gloves. This helps them grip the bat more tightly and offers a little insulation against the shock of the bat hitting the ball.
A batting helmet is required as head protection for any batter. Pitches can travel upwards of 90 miles per hour, so headgear is necessary. Catchers wear a helmet as well; only their helmet also has a wire cage that pulls down over the face to protect from additional injuries.
All players wear a cup. This protects them from groin injury during a game. A jockstrap holds the genitals in place inside the cup.
Pitchers and players on the field wear a baseball cap. This helps shade their eyes from the sun and also ties in to their team colors and uniform designs.
Uniforms also tie in to the team’s color scheme. Teams have two uniforms, one for home games and one for away games. Belts keep the pants from falling down during the game. Usually, the team has a logo, such as their mascot, that appears somewhere on the uniform. Often the players were sliding shorts under their uniforms to protect the legs from injury when a player slides into a base.
Also important to any uniform are the spiked sneakers. These special additions to the sole of the sneakers grip the ground tightly. This can be a lifesaver when the ground is slick from prior rain showers.
There are other items that may be used in any game, but they are optional. As long as a player is dressed in uniform and the coaches have the proper equipment, there is nothing to stop a number of players from enjoying their sport.
Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as a baseball equipment at http://www.baseballequipmentplus.com.
Author: Gregg Hall
Keywords: baseball, baseball equipment
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
Basics of Baseball Betting
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
While football and basketball are the most popular sports to bet on, baseball could be the easiest for beginners once you understand how to read the money line. Money line gambling is the primary wagering option for baseball bettors, which involves betting on the straight-up game outcome with no consideration for a point spread. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides.
For example, our favorite newbie bettor Emily is a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, who are favored in a majority of their games as the defending World Series champions. The money line on the Red Sox against the last-place Tampa Bay Devil Rays might be -170, with sportsbooks making bettors wager significantly more money on the Sox than the Devils Rays because it is more unlikely that the Rays would win the game. In this particular case, the -170 means a bettor who likes the Sox would need to lay $170 down to win $100. Conversely, Tampa Bay would be +150 based on the common 20-cent line used in baseball (the difference between -170 and +150), meaning a $100 bet could earn $150.
Keep in mind that sportsbooks only make a commission (also known as juice or vigorish) when the favorite loses. So if Boston loses, the book pays off $150 to underdog bettors while collecting $170 from favorite bettors, for a $20 profit. If Boston wins as expected, favorite bettors collect $100 while dog bettors lose $100 - resulting in zero profit for the bookmaker. The bigger the favorite, the less likely the underdog will win (and the less likely the book will collect their commission). To compensate for making a profit less often, sportsbooks increase the spread between the favorite’s lay price and the underdog’s payoff, making their commission bigger when the longshot underdog does win.
Some quality sportsbooks even offer a 10-cent line on baseball (also called the dime line), which would net a $160 profit. The dime line is especially appealing due to the fact that it offers half the juice as a normal football or basketball bet, so the bettor is charged half as much for making a wager.
A critical factor to consider when betting on baseball is the importance of starting pitching. With football and basketball, team vs. team handicapping is key - but with baseball you have double the chance to find an edge since both team and pitching match-ups can offer a winning edge. Starting pitchers obviously play an important role in the outcome of the game, and oddsmakers make the money line with them in mind.
One example would be the Red Sox being listed as a bigger favorite with ace Curt Schilling on the mound than when they send Tim Wakefield out there. Since Schilling is obviously the better pitcher, oddsmakers take that into consideration and would make him a bigger favorite than Wakefield since Schilling gives the Sox a better chance to win.
Money Line in Over/Under Totals Total bets in baseball are based upon the combined number of runs scored by both teams. For example, if the Over/Under total of a game is posted at 9, and the combined runs of both teams adds up to less than 9, the Under wins; if the combined runs add up to over 9, the Over wins; if exactly 9, the total bet pushes.
Since there is much less scoring in baseball than football or basketball (making each run more significant) bookmakers often need to adjust the money line of the total in an effort to more subtly even the action. Imagine a game in which the total of 9 is too high, but the total of 8.5 is too low. The standard money line on totals is -110 each way, but in this case the money line would likely be adjusted to 9 UNDER -120, meaning you can bet under (the slightly too high number of 9), but the trade off is you must risk $120 to win $100; if you’re willing to bet over (the slightly too high number of 9), you can do so with the appealing money line of +100.
The standard money line on totals is -120/+100 and is often stated in shorthand as 9 OVER (or 10 UNDER, etc.), but the money line can be adjusted even further. Example: 10 UNDER -140 (the over would pay +120).
Run Lines Most sportsbooks also offer the opportunity to wager on the run line, which is essentially a variation of the point spread for baseball. With the run line, you are betting on whether or not you think a team will win by more than one run (-1 ) or stay within one run (+1 ). This is an especially appealing bet on a big favorite since you don’t have to risk as much money if you believe the team will win by two or more runs and can even get plus money in some cases.
Using the example from earlier, the Red Sox were -170 against the Devil Rays on the money line. However, on the run line, the Sox might be +110 at -1 1/2, which means you could risk only $100 and win $110. Meanwhile, the Devil Rays would be -130 based on the standard 20-cent line at +1 1/2.
Therefore, a 5-4 Boston victory would reward just those who bet the Devil Rays on the run line along with the Red Sox on the money line. Of course there is a trade-off here for taking the run line in either case. Betting the Red Sox on the run line would enable you to bet less and win more while betting the Devil Rays is safer if you don’t necessarily think they’ll win but believe they can keep the game close.
The additional option of the run line gives you a little bit of everything when betting on baseball. You can wager on who will simply win the game with the money line or risk less and bet the run line if you are more confident on the side you like. Hopefully at least now you have a better understanding of just how easy baseball betting can be.
RJ Bell is the founder of Pregame.com - Where sports bettors get ready. RJ has been an expert contributor to Maxim Magazine, CNN.com, About.com, and ABC News - and has won 3 world handicapping championships! Located in Las Vegas, the Pregame.com team works at adding to your betting confidence with powerful game insights and sportsbook reviews. FreePicksByEmail.com, the biggest daily sports betting newsletter, delivers help from famous handicappers.
Author: RJ Bell
Keywords: Baseball, Betting, Odds, Lines, MLB, Information, Gambling, Wagering, Basics
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
How To Choose A Great Baseball Bat
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
Perhaps the most important aspect of baseball is to have a bat that suits your needs. A bat’s weight, length, and material can all have a positive or negative affect on a batter’s swing. Consider every option when choosing a baseball bat for yourself.
Bats come in all shapes and sizes. Wooden bats are often popular with major leaguers, but some feel you get a better crack using a metal baseball bat. There are restrictions, however, on which bats can be used.
Every league has rules on what material a bat can be made from and the circumference of the bat’s barrel. Do not become ejected from a game because you failed to pay attention to the rules. Ask the appropriate commissioner, umpire, or coach to give you the rules on weight and height ratios. Remember that corked bats are not allowed for anything other than practice in many leagues.
When shopping for a bat, read the packaging. It is becoming increasingly common for a bat to have print directly on it that states, Approved for such and such a league. This can help you select a bat that will meet your needs and any restrictions.
Baseball bats can be as low as $20 and as high as $500. A pricey bat is not necessarily an excellent bat, just as an inexpensive bat does not mean that bat is inferior quality. The key to making any bat work for you is by practicing regularly. Nonetheless, you should find a bat that is appropriate to your strengths and weaknesses.
Today’s bats are advanced. The thin walls, wood choices, and formation can create the perfect environment for a ball to go flying. These same bats are also far more susceptible to dents and fractures; so increased technology is not necessarily the greatest option. Babe Ruth managed to hit numerous home runs without using todays streamlined bats.
Batting cages often have balls pitched harder and faster than in a normal baseball game. If you regularly practice in batting cages, consider a metal bat. They are able to withstand the test of time better than one of today’s wooden bats.
Speaking of today’s bats, some even have nitrogen or helium inside. A bat enhanced with these gasses allows more of a trampoline effect, meaning the ball literally bounces off the bat at impact. This causes the ball to travel farther.
Visit stores and sample a variety of bats to find which baseball bat feels best to you. There is no tried or true formula for choosing a length. For this reason, it is far more beneficial to sample a number of bats until you find a bat that feels like an extension of your arm. The bat should allow you to swing freely without feeling like the weight of the baseball bat is knocking you off balance.
Never choose a bat that will last for a few years, especially for children. Any bat should fit for that immediate season, not be something a child grows into.
By following a few simple steps, you can find a bat that feels natural. As an extension of yourself, you are guaranteed to improve your swing!
Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as a baseball bats at http://www.baseballequipmentplus.com.
Author: Gregg Hall
Keywords: baseball, baseball equipment, baseball bat
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
Choosing the Right Catchers Mitt
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
The catcher kneels behind the plate, and pounds his catchers mitt then gives the pitcher the sign. The bang of the crowd, the rush of the game, the rush of victory. The agony of sensitive muscles, the torment of suspense, the torture of defeat. These are all notion and emotions that run through the head of a major league baseball player as he stands there in the field. Ready. Waiting. Striving to achieve that glory instant that for so long he has dreamed of. Or perhaps he is a rookie, wanting desperately to prove himself to his teammates, the veterans of the field. In either context, one thing is for sure. You better be playing with the right glove.
Thats where Akadema comes in. Akadema is the baseball glove of choice for over 200 colleges and universities, and for good reason. Known as being on the cutting edge of sports technology, and backed by Hall of Famers galore, Akadema knows baseball. Their designs have been approved by Famers Ozzie Smith, Carl Yastrzemski, Gary Carter and Bob Feller. And when you select an Akadema glove, you are choosing the good word of these and other big names of the game. How do you find the glove that is right for you? It is easier than it looks despite the wide selection and variety out on the market right now.
The first thing to ask yourself, is what position will you be playing? Are you known on your team as the superstar of just one, or will you be playing through them all? As the game has developed, so has the gloves. There are now mitts for all fielders, not just first basemen and pitchers anymore. It is important to go to a honest dealer like Akadema to make sure that you get the proper size and fit for you.
Secondly you should look at the web of the mitt. There is only one thing that really matters when it comes to this component. Can you see through it? This will help you to be useable and rid you of soil and other interferences during the game. Webs that are solid work best if you need a sun shield for fly balls.
Next think about what performs best for you an open back or closed back. Just like the web, this comes down to personal choice and comfort. If you tend to overheat out there on the field, an open back will keep you a little cooler, while also offering you choices such as an adjustable wrist strap. Closed backs are a little more solid and offer less breathing room and yet more support. The final ingredient that should be reasoned is the price of the baseball mitt. Nobody wants to spend a lot, but also consider that what you spend also reflects caliber and advanced baseball mitt technology in a lot of cases. The bigger the brand name, the larger the price tag, so keep that in mind when shopping. Small, well known manufacturers such as Akadema can ofttimes offer the same quality (or better) for a more reasonable price.
Scott Peters is an avid baseball and softball fan, and a sports equipment retailer. Please go to catchers mitt for more information
Author: Scott Mokoski
Keywords: mitt, mitts, catchers mitt, catchers mitts, glove, gloves, youth glove, youth gloves, youth baseball
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
On Cars Baseball and the Halcyon Days of Summer
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
The automotive world was introduced to economies of scale in 1954 as Nash and Hudson (yes, those were makes of cars exactly 52 years ago) merged to form American Motors. Both Nash and Hudson models are history now. Heck, American Motors has taken a hike since then too.
Two other auto manufacturers—Studebaker and Packard—also merged their production in response to economies of scale. They are both gone now as well.
As these four auto manufacturers were headed toward oblivion, another entrepreneur was just getting started. Ray Kroc founded McDonald’s in 1954 and went on to create the fast food restaurant industry as we know it today.
The first nonstick pan was produced in 1954, leading to Teflon (a trademark for polytetrafluoroethylene), and Reagan (who would become the Teflon President) was not even President. It was another guy named Ike (Dwight David Eisenhower), who in 1944 was made Supreme Allied Commander for the invasion of Europe during World War II.
While Ike was busy making war plans, I was born in Flint (MI), then headquarters of General Motors and its vast manufacturing facilities.
The New York Yankees, who had won five consecutive World Series from 1949 through 1953, were watching the World Series from the sidelines in 1954, as the National League Champion New York Giants (the other team from the city so nice they named it twice) swept the American League Champion Cleveland Indians in 4 games.
Leo Durocher, the Manager of the Giants, could not say "Nice guys finish last" that year.
Interestingly enough, Cleveland’s Bob Lemon lost games 1 and 4 of the Series and Early Wynn lost game 2. Both Lemon and Wynn are in Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Cleveland’s Bobby Avila also won the American League batting title in 1954 with a .341 average (now that is what you call a trivia question), and Larry Doby (who broke the color barrier in the American League) won the home run title with 32 dingers.
For the Cleveland Indians, it became what some would call a bad year. Imagine getting to the promised land and coming up short with two eventual Hall of Fame pitchers, a batting champion and an eventual Hall of Fame home run champion.
I remember the 1954 Series as the one at the Polo Grounds when Willie Mays made "The Catch," a dramatic over-the-shoulder catch off a line drive by Vic Wertz to deep center field which could otherwise have given the Cleveland Indians a game one victory (remember, the Giants swept the Series that year, winning four straight games).
A lot more happened in 1954, but here you get the tidbits I learned later in life, much later. I celebrated my 62nd birthday June 27.
In 1954 I was 10 years old and just about my whole world was baseball. We played during the school year but there was never enough time. Summer was a dream come true, no school and lots of hot, sunny days. After rolling out of bed, eating the requisite breakfast and meeting my buddy Tommy, we walked two blocks to St. Michael’s, the private school in our lower middle class neighborhood.
We could not afford to go there, but we wore out the brick wall on the side of the school all summer.
The Catholics who built St. Mike’s meant for it to stand for a long time. At that point in time, Christianity had been around for 19.5 centuries, and they built it like they meant for it to be there for another 19.5 centuries.
No one ever ran us off the property. We were very lucky, too small or too insignificant to be noticed. Maybe they thought we were their students.
Back then Tommy and I played several games a day. We were there by 10 and did not quit until after 3. Man, it was hot most days. Having a game with only two players was simple. The home team pitcher took the mound, an appropriate distance away, and fired in a rubber ball. The batter stood about 5 feet from the brick wall, and if he did not swing at the pitch or swung and missed, the ball bounced off the wall and back out to the pitcher.
You learned pretty fast how to throw strikes, because if you did not, you were running all over the blacktop lot to retrieve the ball after each pitch.
When you connected, the distance of the ball in the air determined what kind of hit you had, hit it to the chain link fence on the fly and it was "Good-bye Baseball, Hello Home Run." The rubber ball you hit never went as far as you thought it would. You had 3 swings for each out, and 3 outs to an inning. Balls were ignored to not cause disputes.
The sun would get hotter as the day wore on. Even at age 10, we thought we invented sweat because it was so prevalent in the blistering sun. No one ever called us to come home, both our parents worked when it was not the thing to do. I think it was called survival on the wrong side of the tracks.
We never thought about lunch. We were a couple of 10 year olds, dreaming about the 9th inning with the scored tied, 2 outs and a 3-2 count on the batter. Always we thought of Mickey on that fateful pitch.
Mickey Mantle of the Yankees did not win the American League home title in 1954, but even at 10 we knew he was a legend was in the making. Mantle did win the home run title the following year (1955) and added 3 more titles in 1956, 1958 and 1960.
In 1961, Roger Maris of the Yankees would break Babe’s record with 61 humdingers. We were so excited on that day we could not pee straight.
After hours of play we headed to the local drugstore. Both Tommy and I worked or we would not have had money. I had a TV Guide route with about 200 customers. Youngsters today would have no idea that TV Guide, long before it relied on grocery stores and direct mail for sales, had routes just like paper routes. We delivered once a week and collected monthly.
We lived for two things at that drugstore, baseball cards and cherry Cokes. I purposely down-cased the "c" in cherry because back then you could not buy Cherry Coke off the shelf at your local supermarket like you can today.
You got Coke and the fountain person would squirt in cherry concentrate and stir it up, pour in ice and bam, once that hit your throat after 5 hours in the hot sun, it was like visiting another world.
We would sock down 4 or 5 of them while buying baseball cards, and with each pack of cards we opened, the bubble gum would go into our mouth, every last slice of it. We were looking for that elusive Mickey Mantle card, and when we got more than one, we had an awesome bargaining chip for trades.
Always, we tried to build up enough chewing gum so we could push it out in our cheek, like Nellie Fox, the sure-handed second baseman for the Chicago White Sox with the biggest chaw of tobacco in his cheek you ever saw.
Fox was another Hall of Famer, and probably would have been even without the chaw of tobacco. He was a 12-time American League All-Star who never struck out more than 18 times a season in 15 full seasons, and was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1959.
We loved Nellie because he was a little guy like us that made it big. Fox had 200+ hits in 1954 and a .319 batting average (his best year in the majors). Man, we thought Nellie was something.
We then walked home, exhausted, happy, poor kids who never knew any better. It would be a number of years before we got our first car, and cruised the A&W Root Beer stand on Friday nights after the high school football game. But without any cars or car repair bills, 1954 was a great summer.
Copyright © 2006 Ed Bagley
Ed Bagley is the author of Ed Bagley’s Blog, which he publishes daily with fresh, original writing intended to delight, inform, educate and motivate readers. Visit Ed at . . . http://www.edbagleyblog.com
Author: Ed Bagley
Keywords: baseball, summer, cleveland, giants, yankees, world, series, mantle, nash, hudson, kroc, mcdonald’s
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment
The Traditional American Game
March 22nd, 2009 at 05:40pm Under Baseball
0
Like life in traditional society, but unlike football and basketball, the other two major American team sports, baseball is not governed by the clock and amazes many foreigners that it is the national sport in a fast-paced United States. Being a very popular team sport, apart from North America also in Latin America, the Caribbean and East Asia, baseball is a bat-and-ball game in which a pitcher throws a fist-sized hard ball past the hitting area of a batter. The batter, who belongs to the other team, then attempts to hit the ball with a smooth, cylindrical bat made of wood or metal. The team will score only when the batter manages to successfully batting the ball and then runs over four markers existing on the diamond-shaped baseball field, placed on a ninety feet distance from each other and called bases, while his opponents try at the same time to catch the ball and successfully throw it by using their hands to their teammates located at each of the four bases before the batter manages to cover the last ninety feet and reach the last base.
While a football game comprises exactly sixty minutes of play and a basketball game forty or forty-eight minutes, baseball has no set game duration. The pace of the game is therefore leisurely and unhurried, like the world was once, before the deadlines, schedules and hour wages. As a matter of fact, baseball belongs to that time when people had all day to play a game. Much like traditional rural life, baseball proceeds according to the rhythm of nature, specifically the rotation of the Earth around itself and the Sun. In fact, during its early years, baseball was not played during the night, which meant that this traditional leisure game was over before sunset at the latest.
Today, the baseball season follows a traditional pace, following the cycle of the active part of the agricultural year. Baseball season begins with the coming of spring, stretches through the long hot days of the summer, and culminates, like the growing season with its harvest, in the fall. From November through March, baseball players were inactive once, but now most of them migrate to the warmer climates of Central and South America.
Finally, just as rural societies everywhere observed the three phases of the growing season with festivals, so does baseball. There is the opening day of the season marked by the arrival of spring. Then the annual All-Star Game matching the best players from the two major leagues comes in midsummer, and last in October, the baseball championship competition called World Series, often called the fall classic, begins.
With worldwide famous players, like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, baseball’s golden age transformed these sports athletes to epic figures who inspired many and reminded people why keeping our roots alive should be considered of extreme importance. In fact, a measure of baseball’s standing at the heart of American life is its transcendence of the boundary between popular and high culture. More than the other two favorite American sports, baseball has had a crossover appeal, attracting interest from groups with little else in common. It is first and foremost a form of popular entertainment. But it has also been the subject of serious literally treatment and rigorous quantitative analysis. In the national life of the United States, baseball has made a place for itself in both the arts and sciences.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Baseball, Games, and Recreation
Author: Jonathon Hardcastle
Keywords: American Game, Sports, Games, Football, Baseball
Power by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
Related posts
By admin Add comment