And here's the second of the March posts highlighting some interesting similarities between two sports.
Mr Sports: So Mr Yank – I understand you’ve got an idea for
a new sport.
Mr Yank: Yes – I have. And I call it… Baseball!
Mr Sports: Uh-huh. So how does it work exactly?
Mr Yank: Well, you have 2 teams of nine players who take
turn at batting and fielding. The game starts when a player on the fielding
team – called the pitcher – throws a ball that a player on the batting team
tries to hit with a bat.
Mr Sports: Right. Then what?
Mr Yank: If the batter hits the ball then he has to try and
run around four bases and getting back to the start before the fielding team
have a chance to pass the ball back to one of the men on the bases. If the
batter succeeds he’s scored a run. And if the fielding team succeed then the
batter is ‘out’.
Mr Sports: Uh-huh. If you don’t mind me saying so, Mr Yank,
this does sound a lot like another game we already have on our books called
‘Rounders’.
Mr Yank: Oh, no, no, no – this one is completely different.
Mr Sports: Are you sure? Seems pretty similar – batter,
bowler – or as you say pitcher – four bases, a bat…
Mr Yank: They’re just coincidences.
Mr Sports: Pretty big ones.
Mr Yank: Well, yes, but as I say they are still completely
different games. For starters in ‘baseball’ the bat they use is considerably
bigger – like 24 inches bigger.
Mr Sports: So 42 inches? Even though a rounders bat is only
18 inches.
Mr Yank: I know. Which will mean they need to use 2 hands to
hit it.
Mr Sports: It’ll also make it considerably easier for them
to hit it.
Mr Yank: Well, not necessarily. That’s why they’re allowed 3
goes to hit it.
Mr Sports: 3 goes?
Mr Yank: Yes.
Mr Sports: They don’t just try to hit it and if they miss
just run anyway so everyone gets a turn quicker.
Mr Yank: Well, they want to stand the best chance of not
getting ‘out’.
Mr Sports: I suppose that makes sense.
Mr Yank: There’s also a difference to the uniforms for some
of the players. For example, the catcher…
Mr Sports: Who’s the catcher?
Mr Yank: The player who catches the ball if the batter
misses.
Mr Sports: Oh, the backstop.
Mr Yank: Er… well, anyway, the catcher wears this.
Mr Sports: Wow. That’s quite a lot of padding.
Mr Yank: Well, those balls are very hard. Some pitchers…
Mr Sports: Bowlers.
Mr Yank: Are able to throw the ball up to 95 mph.
Mr Sports: 95… That’s quite impressive for an underarm
throw.
Mr Yank: Oh, no – this is overarm.
Mr Sports: Overarm?
Mr Yank: Yes. See – another difference.
Mr Sports: Well, I can certainly see why they’d need the
padding.
Mr Yank: As do the fielders – as the pitch is around 90
metres, the batter needs to hit the ball 100 metres to ensure he can get round
all 4 bases.
Mr Sports: So it’s not just the bat that’s bigger.
Mr Yank: Exactly.
Mr Sports: Hmm. Does the word overcompensating mean anything
to you?
Mr Yank: Er… no, sir.
Mr Sports: Maybe you should look it up. However, I still
can’t see there’s a significant difference. It seems to me you’ve taken an
existing game, modified it slightly and given it a new name.
Mr Yank: A very good name, sir.
Mr Sports: But it’s still a batting team and a fielding
team.
Mr Yank: Yes.
Mr Sports: And they’re still running around 4 bases.
Mr Yank: Yes.
Mr Sports: And the opposing team is still trying to get the
ball to get them ‘out’.
Mr Yank: Yes.
Mr Sports: But you still think it’ll catch on, do you?
Mr Yank: Absolutely.
Mr Sports: Huh. Well, I guess we can give it a shot. Who
knows – it might become our favourite pastime.
