Fun American Baseball

SportsFan19

Member: Rank 1
With the NBA Tradedeadline just around the corner, what moves are you looking for, what do you want your team to do?

Just trying to get some threads going.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10



Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century. This game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed.

By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the national sport of the United States.

In the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are divided into the National League (NL) and American League (AL), each with three divisions: East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series. The top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League.





Baseball in popular culture

Baseball has had a broad impact on popular culture, both in the United States and elsewhere. Dozens of English-language idioms have been derived from baseball; in particular, the game is the source of a number of widely used sexual euphemisms.

The first networked radio broadcasts in North America were of the 1922 World Series: famed sportswriter Grantland Rice announced play-by-play from New York City's Polo Grounds on WJZNewark, New Jersey, which was connected by wire to WGYSchenectady, New York, and WBZSpringfield, Massachusetts.

The baseball cap has become a ubiquitous fashion item not only in the United States and Japan, but also in countries where the sport itself is not particularly popular, such as the United Kingdom.

Baseball has inspired many works of art and entertainment.

One of the first major examples, Ernest Thayer's poem "Casey at the Bat", appeared in 1888. A wry description of the failure of a star player in what would now be called a "clutch situation", the poem became the source of vaudeville and other staged performances, audio recordings, film adaptations, and an opera, as well as a host of sequels and parodies in various media.

There have been many baseball movies, including the Academy Award–winning The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and the Oscar nominees The Natural (1984) and Field of Dreams (1989).

The American Film Institute's selection of the ten best sports movies includes The Pride of the Yankees at number 3 and Bull Durham (1988) at number 5.

Baseball has provided thematic material for hits on both stage—the AdlerRoss musical Damn Yankees—and record—George J. Gaskin's "Slide, Kelly, Slide", Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", and John Fogerty's "Centerfield".

The baseball-inspired comedic sketch "Who's on First", popularized by Abbott and Costello in 1938, quickly became famous. Six decades later, Time named it the best comedy routine of the 20th century.

Baseball is also featured in various video games including MLB: The Show, Wii Sports, Kinect Sports: Season 2 and Mario Baseball.

Literary works connected to the game include the short fiction of Ring Lardner and novels such as Bernard Malamud's The Natural (the source for the movie), Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop., and W. P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe (the source for Field of Dreams). Baseball's literary canon also includes the beat reportage of Damon Runyon; the columns of Grantland Rice, Red Smith, Dick Young, and Peter Gammons; and the essays of Roger Angell.

Among the celebrated nonfiction books in the field are Lawrence S. Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, and Michael Lewis's Moneyball. The 1970 publication of major league pitcher Jim Bouton's tell-all chronicle Ball Four is considered a turning point in the reporting of professional sports.

Baseball has also inspired the creation of new cultural forms. Baseball cards were introduced in the late 19th century as trade cards.

The 1930s saw the popularization of the modern style of baseball card, with a player photograph accompanied on the rear by statistics and biographical data. Baseball cards—many of which are now prized collectibles—are the source of the much broader trading card industry, involving similar products for different sports and non-sports-related fields.

Modern fantasy sports began in 1980 with the invention of Rotisserie League Baseball by New York writer Daniel Okrent and several friends.

Participants in a Rotisserie league draft notional teams from the list of active Major League Baseball players and play out an entire imaginary season with game outcomes based on the players' latest real-world statistics. Rotisserie-style play quickly became a phenomenon. Now known more generically as fantasy baseball, it has inspired similar games based on an array of different sports.



Share your love of - and opinions on - the past and present state of baseball here, favourite teams, greatest moments and so forth..... :emoji_alien:
 
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Gavin

Member: Rank 6
VIP
Not being American, I've never really "got" baseball. It's not played widely here (we're a cricketing nation). I suspect that, like cricket, one's appreciation for the game depends on having an understanding of how it works and the benefit (or otherwise) of different plays.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
Being American born, I am a baseball fan. All of the cons of the game are factual, with games being long and at times boring. But so help me, I love the game. I have actually been to the Field of Dreams (it's about an hour or so from where I live) and have played ball on the field twice.

@Gavin I have actually attempted to learn more about cricket. My interest was piqued due to Davison's Doctor being such a fan of the sport. My nerdity knows no bounds.
 

TheSowIsMine

What an excellent day for an exorcism
VIP
So, the playofs are in the second round now. And as usual the Clippers are out.
Now that the Clippers are out, my hope is on the Spurs. As for the east, I think the Celtics have a chance this year.
 

duzit

Member: Rank 6
I'm so glad it's finally baseball season, I love it. I have been behind my major team thru all the bad years (there have been many,many of them) and the good years. When I was working, I was fortunate enough to have won tickets for the company private room (there's a better term, but I don't know how to spell it maybe someone here can help. The word starts with an L) at the stadium. We were provided w/fully stocked bar,wine, all kinds of hot & cold finger food, snacks. And, to top it all off, we were presented with a 3 tier dessert cart. The room had AC & private outdoor seating with cushy, swivel chairs. That was living the good life. I think we lost both times but, who cared when you could have all the wine & food you could put away.

My uncle taught/explained the game to me. As a young teenager, I would spend some of my summer vacation w/my fav. Aunt & Uncle. One of their sons was a pitcher. This was not little league, as he was in his early 20 ' s. Would that be a class "A" league, I don't know, need help again. Anyway, supposedly, he had been scouted but, because he had a slight case of epilepsy, even though controlled with meds, he was rejected. But, he loved the sport, had played since Junior High, so he played with the amateur adult league. There was a game every night, so I had no choice but to be dragged to them. That's how I felt until I asked my Uncle to teach me the game. Once I understood, I was hooked. I now look back at those days as some of my best childhood memories.

I'm watching a game as I'm typing and we lost. But, as Scarlett says: "Tomorrow Is Another Day!"
 

duzit

Member: Rank 6
Is ANYBODY watching the playoffs?????


Awesome game by the Cleveland CAVS, broke all kinds of playoff records tonight, yeah !!!:emoji_relaxed:
 
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TheSowIsMine

What an excellent day for an exorcism
VIP
I haven't watched a game if the finals. I don't like the teams and the times the games are on in Holland isn't helping either.
 

TheSowIsMine

What an excellent day for an exorcism
VIP
So, the warriors are US champions.
I really want the Clipper to win once(never going to happen, I know).
 

Mad_Monster_Party

Sandbox Chief Commissioner
Who do you think would have won the 1994 World Series?


Montreal Expos? New York Yankees? Someone else?

The Expos and Yankees had the best record in the N.L. And A.L respectively when the season ended but that's only the regular season.

What do you think??

Thanks for any comments and opinions!!!!:emoji_alien:
 
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TheSowIsMine

What an excellent day for an exorcism
VIP
Celtics winning streak came to an end yesterday. They are impressive this season so far.
 

Mad_Monster_Party

Sandbox Chief Commissioner
Something tells me it would have been the White Sox (with a peaking Frank Thomas) defeating the Red Sox (with a peaking Mo Vaughn).
That's a good idea you got there! Chicago White Sox had the best record in the A.L Central so at the very least they would have been competing seriously for a playoff spot.

On a another note the match up between Chicago and Cleveland would have been fun to watch for the division crown that year! (Cleveland won the A.L the next year)
 
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