How to Play Baseball

Baseball, the great American game.

The national pastime of millions, both young and old.

The game is played with a sphere known as a baseball.

The cork and rubber core is carefully wrapped with yarn

and covered with tough horsehide.

The bat is made of carefully selected wood and perfectly balanced.

The glove, or mitt, is well padded...

- - ...except where the ball is caught.

Baseball is usually played in a ballpark,

consisting of a grandstand, bleachers, fence and a playing field, or diamond.

So named because of its diamond-like shape.

The game is simple, as there are only nine players to watch at one time.

When the ball is hit, they change position quickly, thus:

- Here's the pitch, -

it's a hit to right field, the runner starts for first,

the fielder goes for the ball, pitcher covers first,

second pulls off base, shortstop covers the bag,

centre backs up right field, left field goes to centre,

the runner tries to stretch the hit for two bases,

the runner is out, or safe, or either or neither or both. Simple, isn't it?

The player is an all-around athlete.

The uniform is loose-fitting, to allow freedom of movement.

The socks are what the team is named after.

The shoes are sturdy, lightweight and comfortable.

Spikes are firmly fastened to the soles of the shoes to prevent slipping.

Gum also plays an important part in American baseball.

The pitcher, or hurler, is the most important man on the team.

To the layman, the colourful actions of the pitcher may appear overdone.

However, such is not the case.

The wind up, for instance, is very necessary.

For pitching demands limber brains

and well-coordinated muscles.

Not only in the throwing arm, but of the entire body,

in order to obtain that bullet-like delivery of the ball.

On the opposing team we have the batter,

who carefully selects his favourite stick, or bat.

The play starts when the batter hits the ball.

Strangely enough, however,

the pitcher tries to keep the batter from hitting the ball.

To accomplish this,

the pitcher holds the ball in such a manner to cause it to curve when thrown.

The inside curve, the outside curve, and the drop.

A straight ball can also be deceptive. For example, the spinner.

To further confuse the batter, the pitcher may alter his strategy

by a change of pace, or slow ball.

The spit ball is also used to dampen the batter's spirits.

The speed ball is referred to as the fire ball, smoke ball, et cetera.

And now we can fully appreciate that thrill of thrills...

...the World Series, the deciding game. Our team has it in the bag.

The score is three to nothing. The last half of the ninth inning.

Our pitcher is the hero of the day. He's pitched a no-hit, no-run game.

There are two outs and the count is 3-2 on the batter.

- Confidently, he bows to the crowd. -

There's the wind up and the pitch.

It's a hot grounder down the third baseline.

The runner's away with the speed of an express train.

And he's... safe on first!

Our pitcher is a bit perturbed.

The runner is taking a long lead off first.

The pitcher sees it.

A fast peg to first and the runner is trapped.

He's in the old pickle, folks, if he gets tagged, the ballgame is over.

He dropped the ball! Slide!

Slide!