Hitting

Hitting is the final aspect of the game. Hitting is the act of swinging the bat so that is makes hard contact with the baseball. Hitting a baseball is very difficult; most say that it is the hardest thing in sports. More information about that can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2003-03-02-ten-hardest-hitting-baseball_x.htm

Pitching

Another important aspect of baseball is pitching. The pitcher is an extremely important and heavily relied on player; when the pitcher has a bad day, the team usually loses. For this reason, most agree that the pitcher is the hardest position in baseball.

It is the pitcher's job to initiate each play by throwing the ball home. He usually tries to pitch the ball in the "strike zone", an imaginary box that is as wide as the home plate and expands from the batter's knees to his chest letters. If a pitch is thrown in this area without the hitter touching it, it should technically be called a strike. If the pitcher achieves throwing 3 strikes, it is recorded as a strike out, and the batter is out.

Pitchers use a number of different pitches to fool the hitter. The pitch that pretty much ever pitcher has is a fastball. There are two main types of fastballs: a four-seam and a two-seam. A 4sfb is generally a faster and more accurate pitch, while the 2sfb is generally a slightly slower pitch that "moves" to the left or right while simoltaniously "diving" toward the ground; it usually move in this manner about 3-4 inches. Sidearm and submarine pitchers and use the 2sfb to great affects, because there unique arm slot allows them to spin the ball more to the side. Sidearm and submarine pitchers can often make a 2sfb move a 8 inches or more.

Along with the fastballs, a pitcher may also contain these in his repetoire: a curveball, slider, change up, sinker, knuckleball, and cutter, among a few other pitches.

For more information on some of the other common pitches, visit this site:

http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/different_baseball_pitches.htm

Baseball

     Baseball is a sport that is played in numerous countries, including the US, Japan, Canada, and Mexico. Baseball is a physical manifestation of a tradition that you see every day: The relationship of mentor and learner. A father will teach his son or daughter about baseball– which hand the glove goes on, how to hold the baseball, to run to first base, not third. A parent will take his young to a professional baseball game; twenty years later, those same kids will be doing the same thing for their children. It is an ongoing cycle of teaching and learning, and teaching again. Eventually the same cycle will find a child who just enjoys the sport more than others; who, after being taught the first fundamentals and surviving the hard first years, learn to be an efficient and skilled player who grows up to be a dominating player; a player like Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, or Willie Mays.
     Baseball is divided into three main parts: Pitching, fielding, and hitting. Many people believe that fielding is the most important. Legendary coach Jim Van Scoyoc, coach of the Norway Tigers and owner of 12 state championships, claimed that "80% of the game is defense". While that is not always the consensus, it shows that defense does play a big part in baseball-whether or not it is more important than the other two thirds, is a matter of opinion. Whatever your personal opinion may be, a team cannot win a game without a combination of all three.
     To see a list of the all time Major League Greatest, look here: 
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lisn100.shtml

Fielding

Fielding is a big part of the game of baseball. There are 9 fielding positions: 3 outfield positions- Left Field, Right Field, and Center Field. The directions are based on how it looks looking out from home plate. Then there are four main infield positions: the two corner infielders, the third baseman and the first baseman, and the two middle infielders, the shortstop and the second baseman. The third baseman plays on the left side near third base, the first baseman plays on the right side near first base, the shortstop plays on the left side about halfway between the third baseman and second base. Finally, the second baseman plays on the right side, about halfway between the first baseman and second base.
The final two positions are considered by most to be far and away the hardest positions to play. They consist of the pitcher and the catcher. The pitcher begins each play by "pitching" the ball toward home plate. The catcher has the responsibility of catching the ball and calling the different pitches. Most people agree that the catcher has the most difficult job on the field, as he has to catch each ball, even the bad ones, and be quick as lightning to throw out runners trying to steal a base.
So those are the 9 positions of baseball. Even though each position has it's own responsibilities and placements, every part has to function as one, as a team. Otherwise the team cannot perform as well as it can as a unit.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2011

Pitching

Another important aspect of baseball is pitching. The pitcher is an extremely important and heavily relied on player; when the pitcher has a bad day, the team usually loses. For this reason, most agree that the pitcher is the hardest position in baseball.

It is the pitcher's job to initiate each play by throwing the ball home. He usually tries to pitch the ball in the "strike zone", an imaginary box that is as wide as the home plate and expands from the batter's knees to his chest letters. If a pitch is thrown in this area without the hitter touching it, it should technically be called a strike. If the pitcher achieves throwing 3 strikes, it is recorded as a strike out, and the batter is out.

Pitchers use a number of different pitches to fool the hitter. The pitch that pretty much ever pitcher has is a fastball. There are two main types of fastballs: a four-seam and a two-seam. A 4sfb is generally a faster and more accurate pitch, while the 2sfb is generally a slightly slower pitch that "moves" to the left or right while simoltaniously "diving" toward the ground; it usually move in this manner about 3-4 inches. Sidearm and submarine pitchers and use the 2sfb to great affects, because there unique arm slot allows them to spin the ball more to the side. Sidearm and submarine pitchers can often make a 2sfb move a 8 inches or more.

Along with the fastballs, a pitcher may also contain these in his repetoire: a curveball, slider, change up, sinker, knuckleball, and cutter, among a few other pitches.

For more information on some of the other common pitches, visit this site:

http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/different_baseball_pitches.htm