Baseball DIY

The start of the Major League Baseball season can only mean that vintage base ball is also revving up. This, of course, excites me greatly, as I play shortstop for the St. Louis Unions of Florissant (our official name is the St. Louis Unions, but I strive for accuracy in all endeavors). If you don't know, vintage base ball is played according to the rules of the nineteenth or early twentieth century, depending on whose field you're playing on. Our team plays by 1860 rules, which can be found here. The most obvious differences are that players don't wear gloves (this isn't codified in the rules, it's just how the game was played) and a ball caught on one bounce is an out. There are no called strikes or balls, and the pitcher pitches underhand without the intent of striking the batter; he is merely trying to get the striker to put the ball in play so the defense can do the work. Foul balls are not counted as strikes but can be caught for outs; also, ball that rolls foul before going past the first- or third-base bags is a fair ball (fair or foul is determined by where the ball lands). For more subtleties of the game, watch one!

I confess to having played very little baseball over the winter, although a couple guys from work and I went to the batting cage a month or so ago. It'll take a while to get the hands used to snagging line drives, and I imagine that I'll voluntarily let a few pass by during the colder weeks before true spring arrives. My goal is to end the season in the top 3 in batting for the team, since my .500 average found me in 8th place. As I've said elswhere, I unfortunately played the part of stereotypical, light-hitting shortstop. Here's hoping for a bigger stick in 2005!