“Take me out to the ball game! Take me out to the crowd! Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. I don’t care if I ever get back…” The old baseball song still echoes in my mind every time I think about playing baseball as a kid. I first fell in love with the sport when I was just a young child and even now that I’m an adult working in Asia, I still enjoy watching my favorite teams on television. I created East Wind Up Chronicle as a blog to talk about all my favorite baseball teams, games, and information. We’ll cover everything from American baseball to playing here in Taiwan. If you are a baseball fan and you love to talk about the latest stats from your favorite players, I hope you will join me often here at East Wind Up Chronicle.
Keys To Understanding Baseball
When it comes to sports there are a lot of people that are simply in the dark. The games can be hard to follow and things that are not seen by the untrained eye typically determine the outcomes. That is why you need to take the time to learn the sport and then watch it. You cannot learn all you need to know by just watching the game. You need to take the time to research the game. So for me, baseball is the game that I love. It is also a game that many people fail to understand. They think all the game involves is throwing the ball and hitting the ball. But there is so much more to the game than that. So here are the basics that you need to understand.
Every team has 9 people that start for them. This is the starting lineup. The lineup can change throughout the game but once a player is removed form the game they can not play any more in that particular game. Three men are placed in the outfield, 4 play the infield, and then you have a pitcher and a catcher. The pitching position is the one that gets most attention. It changes throughout the game. Typically the manager of the team will remove the starting pitcher after 6 or 7 innings. This is done to keep a fresh arm in the game and to make the other manager make additional moves. Moves that might include using a left handed batter against a right-handed pitcher. Typically you would like your batter to be hitting from the opposite side that the pitcher is throwing. The main thing to understand about baseball is that the game revolves around getting hits and moving the men on base in to a scoring position.
Baseball and the Birth of the Best Electronic Cigarettes
There has always been something about baseball that appeals to the average American. Even people who don’t generally like sports end up enjoying baseball. Many people believe that one of the main reasons that baseball became the national pastime stems from the fact that it’s a sport that all kids could play, no matter what their economic position. All that was needed was a bat, a ball, and a few objects that can be used as bases. With these items, a group of friends can play baseball all afternoon long.
No one is completely sure when or where baseball, especially the form of the sport we’re familiar with today, was created. Many historians think that it evolved from the English game of cricket. In the middle of the 19th century, players took to Elysian Field to play friendly games of baseball because the ground on their regular playing fields was too wet. Historians all agree that this was when the sport really took off. Organized games were established between local baseball clubs. It wasn’t long before these games started to draw a crowd of fans.
New York state is credited for turning baseball into a national pastime. It was the first state that featured several organized clubs and arranged games that followed a strict set of rules all players had to adhere to. Overtime, more and more states started to follow New York’s example and created similar organizations and games, most of which stuck to the rules that were being established in New York. 1869 saw the creating of the first professional baseball team, which was the Cincinnati Red Stockings, a team that played many games all over the country, and who remained undefeated until 1870.
Over the years, Americans turned to baseball when they needed a hero. Two players in particular stood out. The first is Babe Ruth who was an incredible player and all around good guy. His popularity was so great during his playing days that many contemporary players worry about what he’d think about today’s game and talk about how he influenced both the sport and themselves.
The second most famous baseball hero is Joe DiMaggio. He became a baseball legend when he had a multi-game hot streak where he was never struck out. Unlike Babe Ruth who led a relatively quiet life, DiMaggio’s life off the baseball diamond was fascinating. Fans were fascinated when he married, and soon divorced Marilyn Monroe, a woman many believe he remained in love with until the day he died. He also had long standing feuds with JFK and Frank Sinatra.
Traditionally, baseball players have led hard, fast lives which includes drinking, chewing tobacco, and smoking. Many have made an effort to clean up their act. One of the ways they’re doing this is using the best electronic cigarette to wean themselves from nicotine. The best electronic cigarette has been proven to be as effective, and in many cases more so, than nicotine gums and patches when it comes to quitting smoking. Some of the best electronic cigarette companies even created quit smoking starter kits.
Tips For Preventing Injuries In Youth Baseball
Elbow and shoulder injuries are on the rise when it comes to youth baseball. These types of injuries are not that easy to get over so we want to avoid them at all costs if possible. In this article I will give you a few tips for preventing injuries in youth baseball.
A good warm up will go a long way to helping prevent injuries in your kiddos who like to play baseball. If they take the time to warm up their muscles before the game, they are less likely to get injuries while playing the game. Make sure to discuss with your young one how very important taking time to do theses warm-ups is.
Playing various positions on the field will also help your youngster to not have as many injuries. Playing the same position over and over again without a break is basically asking to be hurt. Be sure that the coach is ok with moving the kids around a bit however before you try to implement this rule on your own or you may end up with an argument on your hands. If you are asked to pitch back to back day in and day out, you may have to talk with your coach about how this can be detrimental to your well being. No coach wants a team full of injured players.
Do not play youth baseball year round. Instead take some time out for some of your other interests to give your body a chance to bounce back from the current season. This will allow your muscles to recoup and be ready to come back strong for the next season.
Watching Baseball Is Fun For The Entire Family
It is starting to get warming outside as Spring is slowly approaching. Of course if you live on the East coast it can be quite confusing what time of year it is especially these days. It is almost Spring however if it feels like it or not. You may be starting to think about fun activities that you and your family can do together now that it is getting warmer outside. Why not take in a baseball game together and get the entire family out for a night of fun. It is my guess that even if you have teenagers in our household they are going to enjoy going out with the family for a fun night at the local baseball stadium whether or not they like the sport of it.
I know for me, the best part about a baseball game with the family is the food and the music. I don’t know a lot about the game and typically don’t pay a lot of attention to it, but when the fun songs are played and the hotdogs are passed out I am in my element.
Baseball can be fun for your young sons to watch especially if they love the sport and take part in it with a local team. Your child can learn lots of different moves and ways to play the game by watching the semi pros do it. You can also use the game as a teaching experience to show your child how to act and not to act accordingly.
Next time your local baseball team has a game, get out of the house and enjoy the game with your family. You will be glad you did!
Exercises To Get You Ready To Play Baseball
If you want to be a great baseball player you need to condition your body first. In this blog post we will look at a few different exercises that are sure to help you with your baseball career. Even if you just want to play baseball for fun, you still need to condition your body so that you are not setting yourself up for an injury.
The kettle bell single arm exercise is a great place to start when beginning a baseball career. It is a good idea however to start out with something lighter than a weight so that you don’t hurt yourself. A good idea is to use a shoe or something about the same weight as a shoe to start out with. You will need to balance a shoe or a book on the end of your fist and go through the movements before you begin using a weight.
By using the kettle bell exercise to get ready for a baseball career, or just for fun, you are going to be leaps and bounds ahead of the game. Your arm is going to become super strong and your confidence will be through the roof as a result. You may even have the bat speed of a major league slugger once you have conditioned your body with kettle bell exercises. You can use this exercise for one or both arms and keep it in your workout routine for as long as you plan to play baseball. It is likely that once you begin doing these exercise on a regular basis that you may feel like you can stop and that you are in the best shape possible, however I recommend you continue throughout your career.
The Best Teams Ever
In the world of sports there is always the question of who the best player was or what team was the best of all time. And while this is a great argument to have a fun conversation to have, the reality is that there is not a simple answer to this question. This is such a hard topic because it is almost impossible to compare teams across different generations. A great example is the current conversation regarding the best players in the NBA. Some will argue that Michael Jordan is the greatest ever and others will say that LeBron James is the best ever. The reality is that you cannot compare the 2 stars since they have never played together and they played some 20 years apart. This brings up the question of baseball greatness. Who are the greatest players in MLB and who are the best teams ever?
When discussing the best teams in MLB the conversation will have to include the 1920 Yankees and several of the Yankee teams from the 30’s. Still other teams that were great would include the 116 win Seattle Mariners team. Another great team would be the 1990’s Braves. The 90’s era Braves were always competitive and they always made the playoffs. When discussing the greatest players there is no arguing against Babe Ruth. He was the homerun king for years and years. However, Hank Aaron is also going to be in that conversation since he broke the record of Babe Ruth. Still others would argue for player like Mickey Mantle. In reality the stars of baseball are too good to pick one over the other.
Should MLB Use Replay?
The idea of using the instant replay us not a new concept. However this has become a very controversial topic for some time in the baseball world. Lets examine this a bit further. First, the replay is used in almost every sport. Racing uses the replay. Football uses the replay. Tennis uses the replay. The only sport that has a real hard time using the replay is the baseball community. For some reason this seems to be a hard obstacle to overcome. The real question is why? Some would argue that the commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig, is the driving force behind the refusal to use replay. The continual reasoning is that the relay system would take away from the spirit of the game and that it would make the game last longer. Lets take this one step at a time and explain the replay system a bit further.
First, the game of baseball is already a long game. Typical games in the National league will last for 3 hours and the American league will see games that last for nearly 4 hours. What difference will it make if you make the game 20 minutes longer? If you are willing to spend 3 or 4 hours at a game, 20 more minutes will not make a big difference for you. Additionally, with the continued rising prices of admission, the customers deserve to watch a game that has been called correctly. This is the second reason against using replay. The commissioner says that bad calls are a part of the game and that we need to get use to it. Bad calls might be common but they do not have to be celebrated and tolerated.
Understanding The Playoff System
Major League Baseball can be a very fun sport to watch but it can also be a very confusing sport for the person that does not watch on a regular basis. One of the most common questions that a new fan will ask is why the teams play so many games against the same opponents. Another question is why the teams play so many games in the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, this is perhaps one of the biggest questions. What is the purpose of the current playoff system and why is it so hard to understand? If you are new to the sport of baseball then allow me to take this moment to explain the baseball playoff system. Since we are closing in on October and the beginning of the playoff race, this is a great time to have this discussion.
There are 6 divisions in baseball. Of these 6 divisions in the sport, 3 of the divisions are called the American League and the other 3 are known as the National League. The American League plays the majority of its games, in the regular season, against other American league teams. The same is true for the National league. The best way to make the playoffs is by winning your division. Division winners automatically make the playoffs. Of the teams that did not win the division, the two teams with the best records will qualify as a wildcard. The wildcard teams in each league will play a one game playoff. The winner of that game will then play a division winner in a best of 5 series. Sounds simple right?!
The Need For Minor League Play
As an avid baseball watcher and a rabid fan, it has become clear to me that there is indeed a need for minor league play in the world of baseball. I use to be of the mindset that the minor leagues were overrated and that they were just an excuse to keep certain players around. However I have come to the realization that the minor Leagues are not only needed but they are a good thing. Not only do the minor leagues help a struggling player find their groove, but also the minor leagues are a great way for a young ball player to learn the game. Allow me to explain my position on the minor leagues in a bit more detail. The following is for all fans of baseball.
The minor leagues are a great thing for several reasons. First, the minor leagues are great for young players that need to learn the proper way to play the game. The idea of playing the game the right way may sound odd but this is very important for them to learn. This means that they need to learn respect of the game and they need to learn to play the game with 100% everyday. Minor league ball is also great for the seasoned veteran that has lost his swing or has lost his confidence in his pitching. This happens every year. There is always a grizzled veteran that loses the ability to hit a certain pitch or to throw a certain pitch. When this occurs the best chance for them to recover is to spend a little time in the minor league system.
Baseball For Beginners
October is just around the corner. For many people this means that the trees are starting to change colors and the temperatures are starting to cool off. However there is another aspect of fall that you need to be aware of. October means that baseball is getting ready for the playoffs. This is the best time of the baseball year. Teams are playing for a chance to go to the playoffs. Other teams are trying to finish strong before the year ends. Still other teams are trying to avoid being embarrassed. If however you are not familiar with the glorious sport of baseball, the following information will help you develop a better understanding.
Baseball is a game well over 100 years old. The basic idea behind the game is that one team needs to score more runs than the other team. This can be accomplished in a myriad of ways. Lets explore ways that you can score. The most common way to score is by hitting a homerun. A homerun can be scored in one of two ways. The most common way to hit a homerun is by hitting the ball over the fence. If the ball carries over the fence, without bouncing off the ground, then the hitter is awarded a homerun. The second way to score a homerun is by hitting the ball into a specific area of the field and essentially outrunning the baseball. An example would be hitting the ball into the corner and being able to run around the bases, reaching home before the baseball arrives. Sounds simple right? It’s actually very difficult.