Baseball For Dummies

387 Pages·2014·11.912 MB·English

by  Joe Morgan, Richard Lally

Sports & Recreation/Coaching/Baseball
Making Everything Easier!™ 4th Edition
4th Edition
Your complete guide to baseball,
Open the book and find: a l l
the great American pastime b
e
s
a
B
• An overview to help you gear
Take me out to the ballgame! There’s nothing as American as up like a Major Leaguer B
baseball. With this great guide, you’ll get a complete overview
• Rules that dictate playing
of the game, from tips to improve your hitting, pitching, and the game a
fielding to details on equipment, rules, and the game as it’s
• The nuances of hitting, from
played from the Little Leagues to the Major Leagues. grip to batting stance s
• How to run the bases like a pro e
• Before your first at-bat — discover the history of this great game,
the rules of play, and the equipment you’ll need to get ready to go • Fielding tips to help you play
defense like an all-star b
• Take your swings — find out how to grip and rip the bat in the
batter’s box, how to take a stance, how to make contact, and how • In-depth secrets on pitching
to follow-through to ensure you get a base hit and playing catcher a
• Updated information on the
• The ball in play — get the scoop on flashing the leather like a pro
amateur draft l
with tips on the various positions and how to play good defense
l
• The impact of steroids on
• From little league to the big leagues — uncover the latest on all levels
baseball
of baseball from the Little Leagues, college baseball, foreign leagues,
the minor leagues, and Major League Baseball • Revised specs about the MLB
ballparks
• The top dog — read about the many roles of a general manager
and how his actions can greatly affect how an MLB team performs
Cover Image: ©Tetra Images/Getty Images, Inc.
Joe Morgan Photo: © CEI Sports Inc. Learn to:
• The spectator’s guide — know how to measure your favorite
players’ performances and find out how to get the most from
your trip to the ballpark • Improve your hitting, pitching,
and fielding
• Evaluate stats, players, and records
Joe Morgan played on two Cincinnati Reds World
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Series championship teams and was elected to the • Become a more effective coach
for videos, step-by-step photos,
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. Richard Lally has
how-to articles, or to shop!
written numerous popular books on baseball and • Get more out of a trip to the ballpark
other subjects, including Bombers: An Oral History of
$22.99 USA / $27.99 CAN / £16.99 UK
the New York Yankees and Have Glove, Will Travel (which
he co-authored with for Major League pitcher Bill Lee). ISBN:978-1-118-51054-4
52299 Joe Morgan
Baseball Hall of Fame player
Richard Lally
Morgan
9 781118510544 Lally Baseball writer and noted author
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Baseball
4th Edition
by Joe Morgan
Hall of Fame player
and
Richard Lally
Sportswriter and author
Baseball For Dummies,® 4th Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Photos: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, N.Y.: Hall of Fame baseballs, Ted Williams
shoes, Stan Musial batting, Brett Butler bunting, Joe Morgan getting hit, Joe Morgan hook slide, Bob
Gibson pitching, Fenway park.
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Library of Congress Control Number:
ISBN: 978-1-118-51054-4
ISBN 978-1-118-51052-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51059-9 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................ 1
Part I: Getting Started with Baseball ............................ 5
Chapter 1: The Lowdown on Baseball.............................................................................7
Chapter 2: Suiting Up: Equipment..................................................................................15
Chapter 3: Tackling the Rules of Baseball ....................................................................31
Part II: Taking Your Swings — Playing Offense ........... 43
Chapter 4: Preparing to Swing the Lumber: Life in the Batter’s Box ........................45
Chapter 5: Hitting Like a Major Leaguer .......................................................................61
Chapter 6: The Science of Baserunning ........................................................................83
Part III: The Ball in Play — Playing Defense ............. 107
Chapter 7: Knowing the Players and Plays .................................................................109
Chapter 8: Winning the Arms’ Race: Pitching Like a Major Leaguer .......................123
Chapter 9: Behind the Plate: The Catcher ..................................................................145
Chapter 10: Playing Infield ............................................................................................159
Chapter 11: Playing the Outfield: Where Fly Balls Go to Die ....................................183
Part IV: From Little League to the Major Leagues —
Organized Baseball .................................................. 193
Chapter 12: T-Ball to College Baseball and Everything in Between ........................195
Chapter 13: The Majors, the Minors, and Other Leagues .........................................205
Chapter 14: The Rest of the Field: Managers and Coaches ......................................223
Chapter 15: Identifying the Rest of the Cast of Characters in the Ballpark ............231
Chapter 16: Measuring Performance: Calculating Baseball’s Statistics .................241
Chapter 17: Going All the Way: MLB Postseason Play and the World Series.........249
Part V: The View from the Stands — A Spectator’s
Guide ...................................................................... 255
Chapter 18: Following the Bouncing Baseball ............................................................257
Chapter 19: Tackling Baseball’s Steroid Controversy ...............................................281
Chapter 20: Keeping Up Online, on the Air, and on the Newsstand ........................289
Chapter 21: Playing Fantasy Baseball .........................................................................301
Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................... 311
Chapter 22: Joe Morgan’s Top Ten Toughest Pitchers He Batted Against ............313
Chapter 23: Joe Morgan’s Ten Smartest Players .......................................................319
Appendix: Baseball Speak: A Glossary ....................... 325
Index ...................................................................... 347
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2
Beyond This Book ...........................................................................................2
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................3
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................4
Part I: Getting Started with Baseball ............................. 5
Chapter 1: The Lowdown on Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Tapping into the Roots of the Game .............................................................7
Understanding the Game’s Structure ............................................................8
When nine isn’t really nine ...................................................................9
Going extra innings ................................................................................9
Introducing the Playing Field .......................................................................10
Getting into the Action of Play .....................................................................11
Coming Home (Eventually) ..........................................................................12
Knowing Who Is in Charge ...........................................................................12
Enforcing and Scoring: Umpires and Official Scorers ...............................13
Chapter 2: Suiting Up: Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Choosing Your Weapons: Balls, Bats, and Gloves .....................................15
Baseballs that last (and last and last) ...............................................16
Bats that really swing ..........................................................................18
Gloves that fit the job ..........................................................................22
Wearing the Right Shoes ...............................................................................24
Equipping Yourself for Safety ......................................................................24
Donning Your Caps and Uniforms ...............................................................26
Preparing the Field for Practice and Play ...................................................28
Chapter 3: Tackling the Rules of Baseball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Play Ball! Starting the Game .........................................................................31
Batting by the Book .......................................................................................32
Making an out .......................................................................................32
Defining fair and foul ...........................................................................33
Getting on base ....................................................................................34
Eyeing the Strike Zone ..................................................................................34
Grasping the Designated Hitter Rule ...........................................................37
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Baseball For Dummies, 4th Edition
Adhering to Baserunning Protocol ..............................................................38
Eyeing the Rules That Govern the Pitcher .................................................40
Avoiding the balk .................................................................................40
Warming up ..........................................................................................40
Visiting the mound ..............................................................................41
Throwing spitballs (and other pitches that go bump
in the night) ......................................................................................41
Knowing an Umpire’s Authority ..................................................................42
Part II: Taking Your Swings — Playing Offense ............ 43
Chapter 4: Preparing to Swing the Lumber:
Life in the Batter’s Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Identifying a Hitter’s Tools ...........................................................................46
Holding the Bat ..............................................................................................47
Getting a grip ........................................................................................48
Positioning the bat and your body ....................................................49
Stepping Up to the Plate ...............................................................................51
Being up-front: The advantages .........................................................51
Stuck in the middle ..............................................................................52
Tales from the deep .............................................................................52
Up close and personal .........................................................................53
Tailoring Your Stance ...................................................................................53
Positioning Your Body ..................................................................................55
Crouch for comfort ..............................................................................56
Can you dig it? ......................................................................................56
Striding for Power ..........................................................................................56
Looking before you stride ...................................................................56
Honing the length of your stride ........................................................57
Troubleshooting your stride ..............................................................58
Dealing with the Strike Zone ........................................................................59
Judging the First Pitch ..................................................................................60
Chapter 5: Hitting Like a Major Leaguer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Slapping Down or Cutting Up: Two Approaches to Hitting ......................61
Making Contact ..............................................................................................62
Fine-Tuning Your Swing ................................................................................64
Following Through ........................................................................................64
Going to All Fields ..........................................................................................65
Analyzing the Pitcher ....................................................................................66
The Dying Art of Bunting ..............................................................................67
Choosing your bunting stance ...........................................................67
Bunting into a sacrifice .......................................................................70
Running the squeeze play ...................................................................70
Bunting for hits ....................................................................................71
Faking the bunt.....................................................................................72
Executing the Hit-and-Run ............................................................................73
vii
Table of Contents
Turning the Run-and-Hit ...............................................................................73
Walking Aggressively ....................................................................................73
Getting the Most Out of Batting Practice ...................................................74
Working with Your Batting Practice Pitcher ..............................................74
Considering Other Practice Tips .................................................................75
Troubleshooting Your Batting .....................................................................76
Overcoming the Fear of Getting Hit ............................................................79
Chapter 6: The Science of Baserunning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Accelerating Out of the Box .........................................................................84
Taking Your Lead ...........................................................................................85
Leading off first ....................................................................................85
Leading off second ...............................................................................87
Leading off third ...................................................................................88
Disguising the hit-and-run play ..........................................................89
Reading Your Opposition .............................................................................89
Rounding the Bag ..........................................................................................89
Tagging Up ......................................................................................................90
Using Your Coaches ......................................................................................91
Sliding Safely ..................................................................................................92
The straight-leg slide ...........................................................................92
The bent-leg slide .................................................................................93
The headfirst slide ...............................................................................94
The hook slide ......................................................................................95
Keeping safety in mind ........................................................................97
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Preventing the Double Play ...........................98
Colliding with the Catcher at Home Plate ..................................................99
Profile of a Base Thief ...................................................................................99
What every base thief should know: Reading the pitcher ............100
Lead — and runs will follow .............................................................101
The key to stealing third ...................................................................102
Home, stolen home ............................................................................103
Delayed, double, and fake steals ......................................................103
Sprinting for home .............................................................................105
Part III: The Ball in Play — Playing Defense ............. 107
Chapter 7: Knowing the Players and Plays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Picking a Position ........................................................................................110
Catcher ................................................................................................110
First base .............................................................................................112
Second base ........................................................................................112
Shortstop ............................................................................................113
Third base ...........................................................................................113
Left field ..............................................................................................114
Center field .........................................................................................114
Right field ............................................................................................115
Pitcher .................................................................................................115
viii
Baseball For Dummies, 4th Edition
Loading the Cannon: Getting Your Arm Ready for the Field ..................116
Getting a grip ......................................................................................116
Delivering the throw ..........................................................................117
Determining how hard is too hard ..................................................119
A Word about Errors ...................................................................................119
Don’t short-leg ....................................................................................119
Avoid mental errors...........................................................................120
Fielding Grounders: Six Tips ......................................................................120
Positioning Yourself for a Strong Defense ................................................121
Fielding Line Drives .....................................................................................122
Fielding Fly Balls ..........................................................................................122
Chapter 8: Winning the Arms’ Race: Pitching Like
a Major Leaguer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Delivering Your Pitch: Starting with Your Stance ...................................124
Winding up, thrusting, and releasing ..............................................125
Following through on your pitch .....................................................129
Pitching from the Stretch ...........................................................................130
Identifying the Weapons in Your Pitching Arsenal .................................131
The four-seam fastball .......................................................................132
The two-seam fastball .......................................................................132
The slider ............................................................................................133
The split-fingered fastball .................................................................134
The curveball......................................................................................135
The three-fingered change-up ..........................................................135
The circle change-up .........................................................................136
The palmball .......................................................................................137
The screwball .....................................................................................137
The knuckle ball .................................................................................138
Playing Defense as a Pitcher ......................................................................138
Getting into fielding position: The follow-through ........................139
Fielding aggressively .........................................................................140
Keeping runners close .......................................................................140
Catching the runner off base ............................................................142
Chapter 9: Behind the Plate: The Catcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Getting Ready: Before the Ball Is Pitched .................................................145
Setting up ............................................................................................146
Flashing signs: The secret language of catchers ...........................147
When you’re ready to catch .............................................................149
Receiving the pitch ............................................................................150
Tracking errant pitches.....................................................................150
Catching a thief ..................................................................................151
Derailing the double steal .................................................................153
Getting help ........................................................................................153
Handling pickoffs and pitchouts ......................................................154