Expert: Rick Bundy - 7/22/2010

Question
Hi Rick
I moved to America as a young man and the only sport I knew was soccer.
During my leisure hours I like to watch sports on TV.
I am gaining a good understanding of football, basketball, and even hockey,so now that we are well into baseball season I want to know how to watch and enjoy the game.
I know the basics, but honestly, it does seem fairly boring from a spectator point of view compared to other sports.
If you could give me a bit of coaching as to how to enjoy it more as a TV spectator it would be appreciated!

Answer
 Gord:  Very special question indeed!

It is true that baseball is quite often looked at as boring, from a spectator point of view.

While there is not the continual motion of players, as there is in football, basketball or hockey, the interest comes from the constantly developing strategies.  Those strategies can change pitch to pitch.

I have this quote on my website at www.theoleballgame.com.  It came from Bill Klem, a Major League umpire from 1905-1947.  He has the distinction of having worked more World Series 18 and Series games 108, than any other umpire.  

Mr. Klem said: "Fix your eye on the ball from the moment the pitcher holds it in his glove.  Follow it as he throws to the plate and stay with it until the play is completed.  Action takes place only where the ball goes."

From a spectator standpoint, I would start with the centerpiece of baseball, the pitcher/batter confrontation.

Batting can be described as timing.  Pitching is the disruption of that timing.  It is the constant battle within every at bat of a game.

Pitchers and catchers work together in this effort, generally working in patterns where they will throw inside, outside, or up and down, all in an attempt to get the batter to change is vision, and sometimes to get him to move his feet.  One basic pitching philosophy is to never throw the same pitch, at the same speed, in the same location, two times in a row.

The rest of the defense will set up according to how the pitcher and catcher are working each hitter, and may change pitch to pitch.  It is subtle.

The nice thing about watching baseball on TV, the commentators do a great job of providing inside information on what is about to, or just did happen.  You can learn a great deal of "inside the game information", by closely monitoring the commentators.

Growing up, we only had the Saturday game of the week on TV.  I learned a lot of baseball from Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese on those Saturday games.  I was glued to the radio every night to listen to Vince Scully do the Dodger games.

Outside of playing the game itself, that is where I would look to increase your enjoyment within the game.  

I heard one commentator the other night say that baseball is a laid back activity, which allows a fan to set back and enjoy the company of friends and family and keep track of the game at the same time.

I have always encouraged my players to watch the games and pay attention to the commentators.  It is a treasure trove of information; from players who have been there, done that.  Every pair of commentators has at least one former MLB player, if not both.

The games situations and options are so many, it isn't possible to describe it all, nor could you effectively get it all from books.  

Lets go through one situation as an example of all that can be learned from a commentator:

Game seven of the 2001 World Series, Yankees vs Diamondbacks.

Bottom of the 9th inning, game is tied, bases loaded, 1 out.

Because the winning run is at third base, the Yankees have to play their infield up,( on the grass).  The announcers would tell you that in a regular season game, the Yankees might play their Shortstop and Second baseman back and try for a double play; but are unable to take that chance in Game 7 of the World Series.

Because they have their infield up, the batter has much more room to hit the ball over the heads of the infielders, than if they were back.

The batter is looking to hit a fly ball deep enough to score the tagging runner on third, or a line drive base hit or bloop fly ball which drops in between the infielders and outfielders.

The pitcher needs to either strike out the batter, get him to pop up to an infielder, or best case scenario, get him to hit a ground ball to an infielder who can throw  the ball to the plate, which could result in a double play at first and get them out of the inning.

Every pitch the pitcher throws will be something he can get the ground ball double play with.

The batter, aware of what the pitcher will be trying to get him to do, is looking for a mistake by the pitcher which allows him to lift the ball to the outfield, or hit a line drive which goes for a base hit.  This may require the batter to intentionally foul off a number of pitches, thus increasing the chances the pitcher will make a mistake.

What he absolutely has to avoid is striking out in this situation, or the ultimate worst to let the pitcher get him to hit that ground ball.

All of this information gets explained by the announcers as the batter walks to the plate, and continues to be developed as the pitch count changes.

This example is exactly what happened in game 7 of the 2001 World Series.  Louis Gonzalez of the Diamondbacks hung in there and hit a Texas League pop fly, which dropped in between the pulled in Yankee infield, and the outfield.

This was such a great question, I am going to create a page for my site based around your inquiry.

Good luck as you look inside baseball.  There is so much more going on than meets the eye!

Yours in baseball,

Rick