The Offtopic Thread

[amish]

I could never understand baseball. Tried 2-3 times but failed.

 

[dextermorgan]

I used to play baseball in those old NES consoles good game

 

[mhsabir]

The basic idea is simple enough - the detailed rules might confuse...

Simple comparison with cricket

3 wickets per innings.
Batsman "retire" after scoring 1 run & can bat again after everyone has once again in the same inning (rarely happens)
A Run is when the batsman returns to home base after completing a full round (even in splits of quarters)
Home run - Nothing but a boundary for which a batsman gets a run.
Batsman can run quarter-runs... i.e. they may run one quarter at a time, even when ball is not being bowled.

Quick example of how an inning may pan out...

1st batsman goes on to the pitch - scores a quarter(goes 1st base)
2nd batsman goes on to the pitch - scores a quarter (goes to 1st base, 1st batsman goes to 2nd base)
3rd batsman goes on to the pitch - gets out, 1st wicket
4th batsman goes on to the pitch -scores a quarter (goes to 1st base, 1st batsman goes to 3rd base, 2nd batsman to 2nd base)
5th batsman goes on to the pitch - hits doesnt run , 2nd batsman, tries to run, but gets out, 2nd wicket
5th batsman still facing - hits , scores a quarter, 4th batsman goes to 2nd base, 1st batsman is back on home base, gets a run & retires
6th batsman replaces 1st batsman... gets out, 3rd wicket

Team total : 1 run.

If 6th batsman , hits a home run (boundary).. He will get a run & also 4th batsman will complete his run (So team will get 2 runs)

Two batsman can be on same base, that is not a problem.. 1st one is 2nd base, 2nd one on 1st base steals a quick one & joins him there..

How you can get out (major ways)

3 strikes (Miss the ball in a zone) - kind of like bowled with imaginary stumps, catch, run out . Others include hitting multiple times outside the triangular scoring area (not much aware of this one myself)

 

[amish]

Great explanation! I knew a bit but you explained further.

Hard-core cricket lovers would never love baseball instantly, because they will probably see score and think - what just 5-10 runs in FULL match? How boring!

 

[mhsabir]

Yup. Cultural impact on both games is huge.

A few more basic rules include 9 innings per side. In the 6th man hitting a boundary example no.4 and no.6 would retire and no.7 will be only man on pitch to continue innings with team score on 3.

Most teams have just 1-2 main pitchers / bowlers and they have their own concepts of pinch hitter etc.

 

[mhsabir]

Also an edit - I think once 5th batsman hits he needs to run. So you can assume 2nd guy trying to steal a run was in between balls

 

[dextermorgan]

Also in baseball, I think both pitcher(bowler) and hitter(batsmen) have equal importance which I like unlike cricket where it depends on pitch conditions and time of play.

 

[mhsabir]

But the variety of shots is less, the typing of pitching is less. I have sat through a game lasting 2-3 hours and struggled to see anything different happening - I would compare it akin to teams batting a test match trying to save, and the bowling team using two seamers throughout who are constantly bowling off/outside off & batsman missing most of the balls..

 

[dextermorgan]

It may look boring but its tremendous fun Played softball practice with my college team while we were practicing for cricket ..It was very fun

 

[Sushubh]

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