Okay, maybe everybody in the world knows the game of baseball and knows how to play it. But for those of you who maybe don't get out much, this is a very basic guide to the game and hopefully will be more than enough to either make you want to go out and buy a bat, ball and a glove or send you screaming into your room to turn on the television.

Baseball is played outdoors, but not really. Well, it used to be played only outdoors but in the past 30 or so years quite a few domed stadiums have popped up. The reasons for this were pretty clear. Too many games were getting canceled because of bad weather, usually rain. Of course in early April there is always the chance of snow. With domed stadiums the climate inside the stadium is controlled so no matter how cold or hot it is outside it is always a comfortable 72 degrees inside.

Baseball is also played on grass, but not really. Well, it used to be played only on grass back in the good old days. This was when the ground crew had to go out before every game with the lawn mowers and cut that stuff down so that the ball could actually get through the infield when you hit it. Today, we have what is called Astroturf, named after the first domed stadium, the Astrodome. See, when they made domed stadiums one of the things they realized is that grass doesn't grow very well in doors. It usually dies pretty fast. So in order to get a grass like surface, artificial grass, or Astroturf, was created. So baseball isn't always played on grass, at least not real grass.

Baseball games are played with 9 men on each team to start the game, but not really. Well, it used to be played with 9 men. There was your pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, left fielder, right fielder and center fielder. But today, at least in the American League of the Major Leagues of baseball, there is what is called the designated hitter. This is a guy who can't do anything but hit the ball. He can't catch, he can't throw and in many cases can't run. He's pretty much useless except that your best designated hitters can pretty much hit the ball to the moon. Mostly old ballplayers who can't play the game for real anymore become designated hitters.

Baseball games are played during the day, but not really. Well, they used to be when there weren't any lights in the stadium. It would have been pretty hard to play at night with a ball thrown 95 miles per hour coming at your head. Many careers would have been cut quite short. But with the invention of electricity, games can now be played at night because the stadiums have lights. Of course the glare from these lights can pretty much blind a person so that 95 mile per hour fastball coming at your head may still do quite a bit of damage.

Baseball games are...Oh, you know what? Why not just go out and see a game? You'll probably learn a lot more that way.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Baseball