if you pick up an MLB.tv subscription (they have one where you can just subscribe to one team instead of the entire league and it's cheaper) they have local radio broadcasts for games that you can stream online. baseball broadcasts over the radio are imo the best way to go aside from being there. mainly because we have Denny Matthews here in KC and he is a GOAT broadcaster.
Help a Baseball Noob
- Thread starter pettersson
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Rickey was bigger than any team he was on.
This 100%. Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez are the best announcers in all of MLB.
Though Keith can be a bit of a clown, LOL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69GXAZk4jvg
Why must you start this?
Lazy vs Crazy
Member
I personally feel that the most important part of being a baseball fan is finding a team to hate. Pick one that's just good enough to piss you off by being occasionally decent, but will never let you down by actually winning. Revel in their failure.
Me, I hate the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I can't tell you how mad I am that the Red Sox signed David Price to that absurd deal. You'd think the Sox would learn about the dangers of former Devil Rays with the the Carl Crawford signing.
See, I'm getting worked up just posting about it, it's great.
Me, I hate the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I can't tell you how mad I am that the Red Sox signed David Price to that absurd deal. You'd think the Sox would learn about the dangers of former Devil Rays with the the Carl Crawford signing.
See, I'm getting worked up just posting about it, it's great.
RoslindaleOne
Member
At Fenway, ketchup and onions. At home, ketchup, relish and mustard. Key ingredient, ketchup.
You're about to trigger Sanjuro.
When I wanted to get into baseball maybe five years ago the people I asked for tips mostly all said 'just don't follow the Cubs'. Of course this made me look up their back story and fall for their long history and struggle. And I instantly felt that this was it. Yeah I had to sit through some really dire seasons, but I was quickly emotionally connected with the team and had a motivation to watch games every week. MLB.tv is also really great for us foreign fans.
Learning the game is one thing. Following all the goings on through the season and off season is another, especially as someone living in a country where you don't get _any_ of it naturally through local media coverage. That's the hardest part, keeping up with trade rumours, player forms, etc. I still think I have some ways to go, maybe setting up a good feed of just the right sources for news and discussion.
Learning the game is one thing. Following all the goings on through the season and off season is another, especially as someone living in a country where you don't get _any_ of it naturally through local media coverage. That's the hardest part, keeping up with trade rumours, player forms, etc. I still think I have some ways to go, maybe setting up a good feed of just the right sources for news and discussion.
lastflowers
Banned
Fuck the braves. Fuck the Cards
(Astros fan that repeatedly ran into either the Cards or the Braves every fucking year of my youth. Still admire them both though).
Crazy story...I went to San Pedro, Belize on Vacation about 7 years ago and noticed a ton of people wearing Cubs hats and I ask the bartender why are their so many Cubs
fans on this tiny Island? He said because their first cable station they got was WGN which had the Cubs on it, so naturally people would watch the games and become fans.
Long story short, I went out there again the next year and become really good friends with the bartender, and since he and his father were die-hard fans, and never been to
Chicago or Wrigley, I invited them to stay with us for a week. We went to 5 Cubs games that week and it was a blast!
To see their faces the first time they saw Wrigley in person was so damn cool.
pettersson
Member
Since I am living in Germany, I'll have some Bratwurst and Sauerkraut
But I LOVE Root Beer since visiting New York!
BFIB
Member
Follow the Cardinals. Become a card carrying member of the BFIB.
But, in all seriousness, join us in the MLB thread (Where's the OT Duane!?), and watch Ken Burns Baseball. Though he puts a little too much focus on the Red Sox (Burns is from Boston), the entire series is fantastic for a history look at the game, and how its changed through the decades.
As for the rest, there is so much to like. If you like stats, this is your sport for sure. But I'd recommend finding a team, and following them. The Indians need some love in MLB GAF, and are the oldest team in the AL to not win a WS (1948 was their last). Don't hop on the Cubs bandwagon, the wheels will fall off just like they always do.
But, in all seriousness, join us in the MLB thread (Where's the OT Duane!?), and watch Ken Burns Baseball. Though he puts a little too much focus on the Red Sox (Burns is from Boston), the entire series is fantastic for a history look at the game, and how its changed through the decades.
As for the rest, there is so much to like. If you like stats, this is your sport for sure. But I'd recommend finding a team, and following them. The Indians need some love in MLB GAF, and are the oldest team in the AL to not win a WS (1948 was their last). Don't hop on the Cubs bandwagon, the wheels will fall off just like they always do.
Shake Appeal
Member
I'm a European who pretty much dove into baseball in the last five years or so, and I would actually recommend one thing about all else to learn about "strategy and statistics": Out of the Park Baseball, the videogame. It's more or less the Football Manager of the baseball world, only even more of a sandbox, and with friendlier developers. It's intimidating at first, but nothing will teach you about how teams are built and sent out on to the park and under what constraints.
Otherwise, just read Fangraphs and team blogs. Once you have a team to follow, it gets easier (as a Tigers fan, the Bless You Boys blog is invaluable).
If you want to understand the game better (rather than delve into history or particular eras, teams, players, etc.), here are the two best books:
1. So You Think You Know Baseball? by Harry Simmons (for the written rules)
2. The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow (for the unwritten rules)
Zack Hample's Watching Baseball Smarter is also solid.
Otherwise, just read Fangraphs and team blogs. Once you have a team to follow, it gets easier (as a Tigers fan, the Bless You Boys blog is invaluable).
If you want to understand the game better (rather than delve into history or particular eras, teams, players, etc.), here are the two best books:
1. So You Think You Know Baseball? by Harry Simmons (for the written rules)
2. The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow (for the unwritten rules)
Zack Hample's Watching Baseball Smarter is also solid.
TemplaerDude
Member
I just watch for them to make the balls go far. Don't let the silly numbers get in the way, most people don't know what they mean and even people who say they know what they mean don't actually know what they mean.
RBI? Who cares! He just made the ball fly away. ERA? Don't even know what it is, but man he threw that ball fast!
RBI? Who cares! He just made the ball fly away. ERA? Don't even know what it is, but man he threw that ball fast!
bonesmccoy
Banned
OP, you just need one website to learn all you need to know about the game:
GooseGossage.com
GooseGossage.com
CosmicQueso
Member
TRUTH.
Carpe Libertatem
Member
109 years is a long time.
Women couldn't vote the last time the Cubs won and the Ottoman Empire still existed.
they're an OK bandwagon to jump on, but the bandwagon is getting pretty crowded
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Sanjuro gonna make the thread at this rate.
MonkeyKing
Member
RBI Baseball would do just fine for understanding the basic mechanics of the game.
To have a better understanding of why we love the game, listen to Vin Scully broadcast his final season for the Dodgers. The man is a treasure and we are going to miss him.
Also, always keep in mind that there is no crying in baseball.
To have a better understanding of why we love the game, listen to Vin Scully broadcast his final season for the Dodgers. The man is a treasure and we are going to miss him.
Also, always keep in mind that there is no crying in baseball.
I'm going to get some $10 beers and hash it out Saturday.
^
The Cubs might actually be a good team to root for, they haven't won the World Series in over 100 years, so there's lots of excitement every time they nearly make it to the World Series. The Cardinals are a bit less exciting because they win all the time, so the victories are a little less special.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
But even year tho!
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Heyward was a Card and is now a Cub. Let it go friend and accept the truth into your heart!
m.mlb.com/video/topic/8878828/v562471583/sergio-romo-and-buster-posey-return-in-mi-amor-2
Flying Toaster
Member
welcome to the best sport in the world!
Affeinvasion
Member
Here is a link to a guide on how to fill out a score card like I promised. Just print some out and give it a try. It's how I learned the game going to Spring Training games with my dad every year as a kid.
Obviously you won't understand every single situation but over time you'll probably be able to score a game better than the actual damn scorekeeper.
http://www.baseballscorecard.com/downloads/tutorial.pdf
Obviously you won't understand every single situation but over time you'll probably be able to score a game better than the actual damn scorekeeper.
http://www.baseballscorecard.com/downloads/tutorial.pdf
cursedDice
Member
Listen to this man OP. It's an even year so the Giants will be entertaining to follow. I'll also echo the sentiment that the broadcast crew is great. You will learn a lot by listening to Giants games. Cheers!
hot damn, thank you! i'd always been really, really confused by scoring on The Show and this just answered every question i had.
This is awesome.
Former Dodgers announcer Ross Porter, who occasionally will come out of his forced retirement by Dodgers brass years ago, to call college baseball games still uses the trusty scorebook.
Affeinvasion
Member
There is no better way to learn the game than to score it yourself. Every baseball fan should fill out a score card at least once in their life. You learn the positions, the rules, the possibilities for every ball put into play, substitutions, and statistics. Granted, I'm a nerd, but I love filling out score cards.
Purple Cheeto
Member
Some books I would recommend:
The Book Which is sort of a modern day continuation of The Bill James Abstracts and The Hidden Game of Baseball. It is a great resource for helping you second guess all the stupid shit the average baseball manager does in a game.
Graham MacAree's sabremetrics 101 series on Lookout Landing It's a couple years old now but Graham is a great writer and this series is a great intro to the world of advanced baseball analysis. It is a bit heavy on the math side though.
Baseball Night in America by Joe Posnanski This is a quasi long form piece about the beauty of baseball and why baseball fans are okay with it being "boring" (because it isn't always boring) as well as a nice recap of the final day of the 2011 season which had one of the most dramatic final days in baseball history. Honestly you should start with this piece by Joe Pos, he's the best American sports writer out there today and no other piece I've read in my life better illustrates why people love baseball than this one. Any time people ask me how I can stand baseball I link them to this.
I was also gonna link Jon Bois slide show about Mike Sweeney's forgotten 83 homer season but the internet has lost this
Bug's Bunny Greatest Banned Baseball Player Ever by Derek Michael Zumsted Another amazing combination of humor and stats. More of a fun read than anything else.
Nuclear Powered Baseball - Articles Inspired by the Simpsons episode A collection of articles about one of the greatest Simpsons episodes ever, Homer At the Bat. A great intersection of baseball and pop culture.
Also watch this game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Z_Dbb_kyc sadly you're saddled with the ESPN announcers and won't get to here Rick Rizzs classic call, but this was the game that saved baseball in Seattle.
The Book Which is sort of a modern day continuation of The Bill James Abstracts and The Hidden Game of Baseball. It is a great resource for helping you second guess all the stupid shit the average baseball manager does in a game.
Graham MacAree's sabremetrics 101 series on Lookout Landing It's a couple years old now but Graham is a great writer and this series is a great intro to the world of advanced baseball analysis. It is a bit heavy on the math side though.
Baseball Night in America by Joe Posnanski This is a quasi long form piece about the beauty of baseball and why baseball fans are okay with it being "boring" (because it isn't always boring) as well as a nice recap of the final day of the 2011 season which had one of the most dramatic final days in baseball history. Honestly you should start with this piece by Joe Pos, he's the best American sports writer out there today and no other piece I've read in my life better illustrates why people love baseball than this one. Any time people ask me how I can stand baseball I link them to this.
I was also gonna link Jon Bois slide show about Mike Sweeney's forgotten 83 homer season but the internet has lost this
Bug's Bunny Greatest Banned Baseball Player Ever by Derek Michael Zumsted Another amazing combination of humor and stats. More of a fun read than anything else.
Nuclear Powered Baseball - Articles Inspired by the Simpsons episode A collection of articles about one of the greatest Simpsons episodes ever, Homer At the Bat. A great intersection of baseball and pop culture.
Also watch this game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Z_Dbb_kyc sadly you're saddled with the ESPN announcers and won't get to here Rick Rizzs classic call, but this was the game that saved baseball in Seattle.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
A couple broadcasters still track things on scorecards and scribble notes on them as well as the game goes on. Easy way to look back and discuss stuff from earlier in the game!
Problem Attic
Member
Don't forget to bring a lighter so you can torch the stupid thing if there is ever a rundown...
But yeah, baseball is really great if you take the time to truly appreciate it, which I think a lot of people miss out on. Reading and watching a whole bunch will help you pick up quite a bit but nothing beats playing, even if it's only catch or wiffleball or something like that.
Also, Go Cubs and Go Rangers!
captmcblack
Member
Had to post in this thread.
Baseball is the best sport ever to watch, IMHO.
You're already doing the right thing by watching the 27-time world champion New York Yankees, so you're good there. I'd advise you watch some games by other teams too so you can see some different variations of modern team styles:
- watch the KC Royals and their exciting high-average, aggressive-on-the-basepaths baseball.
- watch the powerful pitching of the Mets, or the different styles in the Dodgers' rotation
There's good strategy links in here already, so you're pretty well-covered there.
Additional strategy stuff:
- advanced sabermetric statistics are cool, but never avoid the reality of the eye test; in other words, don't deny yourself the right to believe that guy hitting 98HRs and driving in 200RBI is a good player even if the sabermetrics say he's the worst player in the league because of some freshly-conceived defensive astrophysical equation. Don't ignore sabermetrics...just don't take them as the only rules.
- bunts are great for leadoff men, pitchers, close games and slumpbusters. That guy in a .200, no hits in 30ABs slide might as well get himself going with even a cheap bunt hit. You might even disrupt a defensive shift too!
- BBQ sauce is the ultimate tiebreaking condiment. Fuck ketchup.
- tough a rain delay out. There is baseball at the other end when the rains are over. - and if there isn't (and you're at the game), you get another ticket for the replacement game.
- when in doubt, trust the ace.
Baseball is the best sport ever to watch, IMHO.
You're already doing the right thing by watching the 27-time world champion New York Yankees, so you're good there. I'd advise you watch some games by other teams too so you can see some different variations of modern team styles:
- watch the KC Royals and their exciting high-average, aggressive-on-the-basepaths baseball.
- watch the powerful pitching of the Mets, or the different styles in the Dodgers' rotation
There's good strategy links in here already, so you're pretty well-covered there.
Additional strategy stuff:
- advanced sabermetric statistics are cool, but never avoid the reality of the eye test; in other words, don't deny yourself the right to believe that guy hitting 98HRs and driving in 200RBI is a good player even if the sabermetrics say he's the worst player in the league because of some freshly-conceived defensive astrophysical equation. Don't ignore sabermetrics...just don't take them as the only rules.
- bunts are great for leadoff men, pitchers, close games and slumpbusters. That guy in a .200, no hits in 30ABs slide might as well get himself going with even a cheap bunt hit. You might even disrupt a defensive shift too!
- BBQ sauce is the ultimate tiebreaking condiment. Fuck ketchup.
- tough a rain delay out. There is baseball at the other end when the rains are over. - and if there isn't (and you're at the game), you get another ticket for the replacement game.
- when in doubt, trust the ace.
Purple Cheeto
Member
This game definitely went for the Trust the Ace moment for both teams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr0OFs1HQ7U
mugoldeneagle03
Member
If you're new to the game I wouldn't even bother diving into strategy or analytics. Just focus on scenarios that make the game great.
You got one guy throwing a 90+ mph baseball 3 or more different ways, and another guy who gets 1-2 seconds to decide whether or not said pitch is a ball or a strike & whether or not he wants to swing at it, let alone make contact and hit it.
How fucking cool is that?
Once you gain more of a skill passion I'd look into:
- Hit & Runs
- Shifts and how to beat it
- Lineup moves/Subs
- Advancing runners
- Situational hitting
God damn there's so much to love. Also I don't know if you have a favorite team but find one and pick some guys you want to cheer for. If you're new to the game check out Clayton Kershaw or Paul Goldschmidt. Two guys I consider unreal when it comes to overall skill and awareness.
And of course, go Brewers
You got one guy throwing a 90+ mph baseball 3 or more different ways, and another guy who gets 1-2 seconds to decide whether or not said pitch is a ball or a strike & whether or not he wants to swing at it, let alone make contact and hit it.
How fucking cool is that?
Once you gain more of a skill passion I'd look into:
- Hit & Runs
- Shifts and how to beat it
- Lineup moves/Subs
- Advancing runners
- Situational hitting
God damn there's so much to love. Also I don't know if you have a favorite team but find one and pick some guys you want to cheer for. If you're new to the game check out Clayton Kershaw or Paul Goldschmidt. Two guys I consider unreal when it comes to overall skill and awareness.
And of course, go Brewers
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
You mean such styles as "healthy for now" and "on the DL"?
captmcblack
Member
That moment was the moment that cemented my eternal Yankee fandom.
I listened to this game on a little pocket radio, eating pizza I bought from a little corner parlor in Flatbush and died when Edgar won it. I was a kid then, like 11 or something.
Mattingly would never get his title
Still...you gotta trust the ace.
As well as regular season and postseason collapse.
Shake Appeal
Member
I've read and enjoyed this series, but I think the Fangraphs glossary is probably a softer first-time landing into saber stuff. I like that most of what they've written about advanced metrics is couched in terms of how to use the numbers, and less about how and why they were derived.
Just threw up in my mouth a little.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
That moment was the moment that cemented my eternal Yankee fandom.
I listened to this game on a little pocket radio, eating pizza I bought from a little corner parlor in Flatbush and died when Edgar won it.
Mattingly would never get his title
Still...you gotta trust the ace.
Mattingly/Bonds duo will win it in 2019.
Also, my wife recently learned of the magic of BBQ sauce on a hot dog and is now a believer.
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