I’ve recently started to become interested in the sport, but find all the rules and stats a little overwhelming. Is there a way to ease yourself into the sport? Does understanding all those stats contribute to understanding the game?
Buy a scorebook and then teach yourself how to keep score watching games on TV. I absolutely love baseball, but lately, because the game has moved beyond stats to analytics, it’s becoming hard to watch. Strategy has been replaced by “three true outcomes” ideology and it’s ruining the game, imo.
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article230089079.html
Just get a 30 rack and knock some balls around with a couple of friends, and then go home drunk and yell at the TV until you fall asleep in the fourth inning
baseball is pretty great in person or on radio. If and when all this gets back to regular America, i’m def spending my summers at orioles games. Mostly i just throw on the games in the background if i’m working or in my car when i can’t watch the games, the play-by-play guys are usually pretty good on the radio if you’re into that.
the stats that regular fans usually care about are
- Batters: batting average, home runs, runs batted in
- Pitchers: wins, ERA (earned run average), and strikeouts
- Baserunners: steals (although baserunning is kind of dying out with the whole three true outcomes)
Baseball is my favorite sport. You don’t need to know all the stats, and they’ll be easier to understand as you keep watching.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
