The opening piece in our new weekly humor series, Sports Explained. A well-traveled anonymous blogger’s take on the ‘ins and outs’ of baseball.
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With The World Series now upon us, what better time for a light-hearted primer on this confusing sport?
Baseball can be a complicated game to understand and explain.Indeed, many bright minds have tried.
The subtle complexity of America’s pastime is well-illustrated in Abbott and Costello’s legendary Who’s On First routine:
The great comedian, George Carlin, explored baseball (and our modern values) by comparing and contrasting it to football here:
Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything’s dying.
(Hint: He liked baseball.)
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But if you’re looking for a clean and straightforward explanation of the game, look no further than the words of an unknown blogger, found in the below short essay entitled, “A simple explanation of baseball.”
We could think of no better way than to kick off our weekly #GMPSports Sports Explained feature.
A Simple Explanation of Baseball
Baseball is a game played by two teams, one out, the other in.
The one that’s in sends players out, one at a time,
To see if they can get in – before they get out.
If they get out before they get in, they come in, but it doesn’t count.
If they get in before they get out, they also come in, and it does count.Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad freeWhen the ones who are out get three outs from the ones who are in
Before they get in without being out, the team that’s out comes in,
And the team that was in goes out to get those going in out
Before they get in – without being out. ….. Got that? Good! Let’s move on!When both teams have been in and out nine times, the game is over.
The team with the most in without being out before coming in wins,
Unless the ones in are equal on both sides.In these cases, the last ones in go out to get the ones now in out – before they get in without being out.
The game will end when each team has the same number of ins and outs,
But one team has more in without being out before coming in.
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So…you got it?
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(Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons/Bruce Szalwinski)