# Help Me Learn about baseball. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 20, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175 "2009-03-20T15:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/41 "2009-05-19T20:04:16Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > I appreciate all the help. I’m not sure if I’ll have a chance to see a game this weekend (do they play on Memorial day weekend anyway?), but I’m looking forward to the live games next month. Not only are there games every day, but in fact **every team plays more or less every day.** Major league teams play a 162-game schedule over (if I recall correctly) 176 days, and never take a day off on weekends. Once in awhile they get a day off, usually a Monday or Thursday (and never a holiday) but it’s not unusual for a team to go three weeks between off days. Minor league teams play almost-as-arduous schedules but their seasons end at the end of August, not September. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/42 "2009-05-20T00:01:35Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > ERA doesn’t say anything about opponents batting average (there’s a separate statistic for that). It’s the number of earned runs (runs scored without the help of errors) the pitcher gives up, averaged over nine innings. For instance, if you pitch 45 innings and give up 10 runs, you have an ERA of 2. That is, on average over 9 innings, you give up 2 runs. Similarly, pitch 3 innings and give up 1 run, you have an ERA of 3. Pitch 1 inning and give up 2 runs, you have an ERA of 18. There are also certain rules governing the ERA stat: if Andrew is pitching and loads up the bases, then Bill relieves him, any of those three runners on base which score go on Andrew’s statistical count (as he’s the one who put the runners on base). Bill doesn’t get penalized for Andrew’s runners. You might assume that this is an unfair statistic, penalizing relief pitchers more than starting pitchers, but in general, it’s a pretty good estimate of a pitcher’s performance over time. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/43 "2009-05-20T00:19:49Z")
One more suggestion that was helpful to me in learning to understand the game – if possible, try watching a game with the sound off, while listening to the radio announcers. Since their audience is NOT seeing the game as it happens, they need to describe every major event of the game. So you can hear about each individual pitch and how it was scored, and you won’t have announcers talking over important moments – they will actually interrupt their anecdote to tell you when a pitch is thrown or a play is made. Using this method, I eventually used baseball score sheets to score an entire season of my hometown team’s games. You don’t have to go that far, but the game will be much clearer if it’s described to you by someone who thinks that you aren’t watching the action. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/44 "2009-05-20T00:40:48Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Another thing that is important to understand about baseball: announcers suck. Well, since Jack Buck died anyway. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/45 "2009-05-20T02:38:33Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Their batting average (.235 BA). It’s the percentage of times they get a hit vs when they don’t. The higher the better obviously. RickJay will probably correct me on this, because I don’t totally know but anything in/around/under a .230 or so is considered bad. .250 or so is pretty average. .280+ is good. Thank you for the shout out, but of course you have it right. 🙂 Actually, you could do this graphically: .000 - Perfect ineptitude .025 .050 - This is about what a healthy male adult in his 20s or early 30s, who knows how to take a proper swing, should be able to hit by sheer luck .075 .100 - Most pitchers will hit around here, .125 - or here .150 - or maybe here .175 - On rare occasions a regular hitter might hit this low .200 - The Mendoza Line, named after poor Mario Mendoza. The baseline level of fundamental competence in the majors .225 - A very poor batting average; a hitter who hits .225 must do other things very well .250 - Just a bit below average, which right now is about .263 .275 - Just a bit above average; a reasonable batting average for a full time player .300 - The traditional mark of excellence .325 - Probably one of the ten best averages in the league .350 - Good chance of leading the league .375 - Will almost certainly lead the league; a remarkable, rare performance .400 - Has not been achieved since 1941 .425 - One point short of the “modern” major league record, which was set in 1901 .450 - Not possible in the major leagues over a full season. The difference between competent and incompetent, obviously, isn’t that great. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/46 "2009-05-20T03:12:30Z")
Going from the above post…not bad considering I just kinda guessed those averages I said. Also to clarify a bit…I didn’t mean a pitchers ERA has anything to do with an opponents batting average…I was trying to make a comparison, and kinda failed. I was saying an ERA is a pitchers base stat, as a BA is a batters. (Also **RickJay** thanks for the “of course you have it right” line…that made me smile) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/47 "2009-05-20T03:36:34Z")
Just to correct one minor point, this looks like the one of the best Memorial Day schedules in quite a while. MLB has been criticized in the past for having Memorial Day be a typical Monday travel day for many clubs. Looks like they’ve corrected that for this year’s schedule. I still don’t understand why they’d schedule night games on Memorial Day though. I guess some of them are probably do to travel. Still, the back to the office after 3 day weekend feeling is a big ugh for me and I wouldn’t go to a game on Memorial Day at night. ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/48 "2009-06-08T18:06:45Z")
thought I’d revive this thread to mention that the family and I did get to attend a live minor league game (Lakewood Blue Claws) recently, and we had the best time! I liked it a lot more than the televised game. It was very exciting—it went into an extra inning and was a very close game, and we had a blast despite the light rain. We’re hoping to make it to another one this week. And my daughter has started softball (she’s had two practices and her first game is this weekend!) --so now we’ve been playing a lot of ball almost every day that I’m home. In about two months I’ve gone from knowing next to nothing about the game to being in love with this game. I don’t have favorite teams or anything, I just enjoy watching the game. We’ve watched parts of a few other games on TV, but something keeps interrupting. Yesterday we watched the first six innings of the Mets / Nationals game. I finally understand how people get obsessed with this—I can see myself there if I ever had enough time. But the best part of course is that I get to share it with my daughter. (And I introduced her to the Bad News Bears this weekend too—I loved that movie as a kid, and I didn’t even like baseball. She loved the movie as well) thanks to everyone who helped me navigate this thing. I’m glad I put in the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/49 "2009-06-08T18:41:16Z")
Got a recent video game system? Go over to Gamestop and ask for a reccomendation on a baseball video game. I watched football for years, but it was the Madden series that taught me the most about the minutiae of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/50 "2009-06-08T18:46:27Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > thought I’d revive this thread to mention that the family and I did get to attend a live minor league game (Lakewood Blue Claws) recently, and we had the best time! Hey, I just noticed this bit – another Blue Claws fan! I’m not really a baseball fan – at least not of the televised game – but I love going to games. We take in two or three Blue Claws games every year. If you happen to go to the August 8th game (Irish Heritage Night), you’ll have to let me buy you a beer… ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/51 "2009-06-08T19:05:48Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Hey, I just noticed this bit – another Blue Claws fan! I’m not really a baseball fan – at least not of the televised game – but I love going to games. We take in two or three Blue Claws games every year. If you happen to go to the August 8th game (Irish Heritage Night), you’ll have to let me buy you a beer… I may take you up on that…if I can manage to not book any jobs that day. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/52 "2009-06-08T19:12:44Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Infield fly puts the batter out. The baserunner is out because of interference. He would have had to tag up if the ball was caught, but free to advance at his peril if the ball was touched and dropped or just allowed to drop. So the second baseman has to be free to try to make the play, and knocking the fielder out of the way like that should be a clear case of interference. At this point the ball is dead due to offensive interference, so the rest doesn’t matter. Depending on the position of the runners and the number of outs (which you didn’t give), it could be: > > 1. End of the inning > 2. Runner on first, two outs > 3. Runners on first and third, two outs > > And the DH is the most-awful thing to have ever been thought up in baseball, followed by the All-Star game counting for the Series, and then interleague play as currently scheduled. Okay, **Asterion** - you’re starting to scare me. I was going to post this, almost word-for-word. Get outta my head. And get off my lawn while you’re at it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DanCorleone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DanCorleone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanCorleone)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175/53 "2009-08-28T14:26:25Z")
Just had to search this thread out and post a reply. I read this thread back in April and could’ve written the OP myself. Just didn’t seem to “get” the joy of watching a game. And at 41 it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen. But I have kids and it seems like something I’d like to be able to share with them as the years go by. So I took the advice offered by many of you, especially simply picking a team and watching some games. I even read a few books. Around mid-summer something strange began to happen: I knew the schedules for the week ahead, began to look forward to the games, developed a little undertsanding of strategy, and actually found myself having input in some conversations, even dropping a few stats here and there. And I took my kids to our first game together. In short, I really, really like baseball. I guess the litmus test will be if I can pick it up again next season with the same enthusiasm, but I just wanetd to take the time to thank those of you who contributed to this thread (and the OP) for turning me into a fan. Next up…football. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-learn-about-baseball/490175.md?page=2)