Baseball: America's Greatest Past Time

It's baseball time in Indiana and while we have no national team to cheer for, we do have our Indianapolis Indians, ensconced in a great new baseball arena right smack in the middle of the downtown. When our children were little, cheap tickets to Indians games meant a fun summer evening that included hotdogs, peanuts, and night games under the lights. And once a year we still journey downtown to take in a game amidst the city lights.

For those of you who have not experienced a night baseball game, you're missed a fabulous opportunity to be an American! Save the apple pie for Mom, and find out what you've been missing. But make it an entire experience by preparing ahead of time.

For me, the adventure might begin with a rereading of Casey at the Bat by ErnestLawrence Thayer. The rhythym of Thayer's outstanding poem trips off the tongue in staccato fashion as we read the ending verse, Entire poem at the link.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,

But there is no joy in Mudville - might Casey has struck out.

Everyone of us remembers the thrill of the bat connecting solid in the sweet spot with the ball and rounding the bases as the ball flew high and arcing through the air. But every child also knows the agony and despair as the ball sailed by into the catcher's glove and hearing the umpire call..."Strike three, you're out!"

Before you head out to your game, use the following list of baseball terms to make sure you know what's happening on the field.

Baseball Terminology

Ball: A pitch in which the batter does not swing and in which the umpire rules that the ball did not cross home plate in the strike zone, between the batter's armpits and the top of his knees. (A long winded description of ..you get another chance to hit the ball!)

Bean Ball: A pitch thrown at the hitter's head. (Who would do that on purpose..surely not any ball players we know!)

Bench warmer: A player who seldom plays in a game...(Oh the shame!)

Bunt: When the batter taps the ball with his bat instead of giving it a full swing. (a well placed bunt can win a game!)

Change-up: A slow pitch, that surprises the batter because he was expecting something faster and harder. (A good change-up can confuse a batter and throw him off of his hitting game)

Cleanup: The fourth batter position in the lineup (An enviable but scary position)

Clutch hitter: A hitter who bats well when it counts. (that says it all)

Double play: When two runners are put out on one play (Oh the joy of it!)

Force play: The base runner must attempt to reach the next base because he has no other option. On a force play, the fielder only has to touch the base for the runner to be out, not the runner. (It's agonizing to see that second baseman catch the ball as you are running straight toward him, and he turns, grins and steps his foot on the second plate)

Full count: Three balls have been thrown and two strikes, something is going to happen with this pitch. You're either walking to first, sitting down and struck out, or hitting hard and high!

Grand slam: Bases are load and the batter hits a home run. The trifecta of baseball! Glory Days!

Hook: A curve ball (impossible to hit)

Rookie: A first year player (to be scorned)

Run batted in (RBI): A run that scores as a direct result of offensive action by the batter.

Strike: Any pitch that the batter swings at but misses or any pitch not swung at that the umpire rules crossed the plate to the strike zone.

Strike out: Three strikes counts as an out. (And you sit down in disgrace, head hung low, chin quivering, eyes watering..well, at least that's what I always did)

Walk: A batter automatically goes to first base, gets a walk, if a pitchers throws four balls to him..(yeah, you're on and safe, but it's kind of a chintzy way to get there!)

Steal: My favorite baseball term!! When there is no hit but a base runner advances safely by running to the next base before he is thrown out.

Check out more baseball slang at....Baseball Slang!

There you have it, a simple lexicon of baseball. I so wish I could still swing the bat like I did when I was 12. I was always chosen for our sandlot games, because I could fly around those bases, faster than even Jimmy Dunkirk and I could hit a ball, square and solid, right past third base, inline. Those were the glory days of summer fun. Sandlot baseball doesn't seem to happen anymore, and what a shame for kids.

We didn't need a coach, we just all headed to the school diamond after our morning chores and lunch was over. We'd ride our bikes, clutching our gloves, bats and balls and once there, the oldest two kids got to choose up teams. No adult picked you as MVP. You proved your worth by how hard and well you played.

No adults made the rules or enforced them. We made the rules ourselves and somehow we figured it out. What great lessons we learned, about compromise, honesty, hard work, ethical playing, fair play and foul play.

As adults, instead of playing, we're limited to watching our favorite professional team play in city stadiums and quoting statistics about players. We remember the history of the World Series, like the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers game when fans celebrated for days. The Golden Age of baseball seems so far away, as we hear the sad news of drug use and performance enhancing drugs.

Mickey Mantle was my childhood baseball hero and he inspired me to believe that even I, a girl, could win the World Series one day. Unfortunately, male hormones stepped in and stripped away my superior running when all the boys began to outrun me by about age 14. I remember being so angry at the unfairness of it all. They didn't want to play professional ball. I did! And there was no such thing. The best I could hope for was college softball and then what?

I switched sports to tennis. At least I could still hit something!

Great online resources about America's favorite past time

Baseball Almanac

The History of Baseball

Baseball References, all the up to date statistics of your favorite team