Learn Baseball Lingo

Before you get to enjoy watching and following your favorite baseball teams, you should first initiate to know more about the game. Learn baseball fundamentals and of course the language that are applied in the sport. There are special and technical terms that you would surely encounter. If you are not familiar with them, you certainly would not be able to fully comprehend what is going on.

Here are some of the baseball terms you should know about. It is important to note that the sport lingo is not hard to define and understand. Learning these words and their meanings would be significant if you intend to fully enjoy the games.

Batter’s box is the rectangular area on every side of a home plate where the players stand to bat or hit the ball. When the batter is hit on the head by a pitch, he is said to be ‘beaned.’ Take note that the batter advances to the first base every time he is hit by a pitch. The coach’s box is the outlined area on each side of first and third bases. The coach of the batting team is allowed to give his players the instructions while inside the area.

The count is the frequency of the balls and strikes hit or missed by the batter. Three balls and two strikes make a full count. Force plays happen when the batter hits a ball and then runs to the first base, prompting the base runner ahead of him to advance to the next base. To get any runner out of the game, the infielder needs to hold the ball and tag the base ahead of the target runner. There is a need for the pitching team to go to a base first before a runner does. There is hit-and-run when the batter swings a pitch at the same time another runner on a base advances to get to the next base.

An error is committed when a fielding player makes a bad throw to allow any batter or runner to advance to the succeeding bases. The pitching team should avoid this misplay. When the fielders have more than an option to make a batter or runner out, there is a fielder’s choice.

The lineup is the order set for the players to bat. When a player in the batting team is next online to hit the bat based on the lineup, he is said to be on deck. The diamond refers to the infield where there is a home plate and three bases. When the ball is hit, the pitching team should move to catch or get the ball and arrest runners to advance further to the bases. If runners succeed in doing so, they are ‘safe.’

There you have it. Your objective to learn baseball and understand the game better could depend on how you fully comprehend and use the above-mentioned terms. You could now talk more about the popular sport with your friends, colleagues, and relatives who are truly addicted and passionate about this pitch and bat ball game.

Learn Baseball Fundamentals

There is no doubt that baseball is currently among the most watched and followed games in the United States. It is slowly but steadily strengthening its foothold in many other countries around the world. If you want to learn baseball and know everything about this popular game, it is advisable that you first go through the fundamentals of the ballgame. You would surely realize that baseball is truly interesting and engaging.

The fundamentals of the game are known by everyone who regularly catches any of the televised baseball games. It has really become more like a religion to many suburban and urban American families. If you do not want to get left behind or if you want to get into lively conversations with your family and friends about the sport, you should first know about these baseball basics.

The players

Each baseball team should consist of nine players. One of them should be designated as the pitcher. As a bat and ball game, a team is intended to bat while the other fields or pitches the ball. The team in the pitching side should have all its nine players out across the field. The team in the batting side could have any number of its players in the field, usually about one to four, at any moment. The pitching team should also assign one of its members to serve as the catcher, who would crouch behind the batter so that any pitched ball that is missed by the batter could be easily caught.

The field

There are four bases scattered in a square-shaped playing field, which is called the ‘diamond.’ At the center of the field is where the pitchers mound. The batter stands opposite at the home plate. After hitting the ball, the batter goes to the first, second, and third bases that are designated to follow a clockwise direction. About 45 degrees of the batter’s both sides are foul lines. The inside area of foul lines is the fair territory, which is where all players are. The rest of the field is called the foul territory. Infield is the area enclosed within bases. The outfield is the other area.

The objective

The main objective is to outscore the opposing team. Each of the teams would take turn to pitch and to bat. As usual, the one that scores greater is the winner at the end of the game. One inning is counted per batting turn of a team. Technically, there should be up to nine innings in every game. The pitching team could prevent the batting team from scoring through catching the ball before it could touch the ground, touching base before a runner gets there, or touching the runner using the ball before he gets to any base.

The scoring system

It is important to learn baseball scoring. A score is earned when a batter hits the ball and he is able to go to first, second, and third bases without being touched by the ball. The score is completed when he is able to go back to the home base after going the round with all bases.