Diamond Notes: Know the game

Know the game

 

By-Teresa Owens-March 2, 2007

 

When you are born the daughter of a very avid sports fan you learn about sports early on. You learn the difference between a touchdown and a homerun. Some of us don’t learn about sports until we have an athlete living under the same roof. And then we are still a little confused.

I attended a baseball game a few years ago with a friend of mine. When her son came up to bat I had left my seat to go over to the concession stand. While I was in line at the concession stand my friend’s son hit his first little league homerun. As I was making my way back to take my seat next to her she yelled to me and asked if I had seen her son’s touchdown. I just stood there at the bottom of the bleachers with my eyes and mouth wide open. When I took my seat next to her, I very firmly told her that she should not go home and tell her son that she had seen his “touchdown”. She said she wanted him to know she was paying attention. I spent the rest of the game explaining a little baseball terminology to her.

If you are unsure about the game of baseball, ask your son. He may laugh a little but when you explain to him that you really want to understand the sport that he loves, he will be glad to help. Please, whatever you do, if you are unsure don’t blurt it out. It is also okay to just nod your head as if you do know.

I will share with you some of the terminology that I have mastered. You don’t score points in baseball you score runs. You don’t have quarters in baseball you have innings (Not Endings). You have foul lines and basepaths in baseball. No sidelines. Home plate, not home base. Instead of saying let’s go offense, say let’s get the bats going. When you hear someone say that a player “went yard”, that means they hit a homerun. Ducks on the pond means runners on base. You have umpires in baseball, not referees. RBI means runs batted in and ERA means earned run average.

My son came home the other day and I overheard him tell his father that his curveball was sick that day. Out of concern I asked him if that was good or bad. He gave me “The Look” and said it was good. I guess no matter how much baseball I watch, there will always be something new to learn as far as the terminology.

About the author: Teresa Owens is the mother of Barnwell sophomore Josh Owens. She has offered to provide a mother’s perspective throughout the spring for all of the mom’s out there who are faithful Diamond Prospects readers.

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