Baseball

I've only been to 3 baseball stadiums - Yankee stadium (the old one), Red sox (Fenway park) and Wrigley field (Chicago Cubs) and an American said to me that they are the most iconic/historical 3. Apaarently the equivalent in footy terms of the Bernabeu, Nou Camp and Stamford Bridge.;)

Loved all 3, although still dont know the rules.

BTW we caught a Washington redskins vs Pittsburgh Steelers pre-season game in August, and there were still 60,000 in, as Pittsburgh brought about 10-15k with them, so have a look to see if any pre-season games on.:thup:

Fixed that for you Pete........ :whistle:
 
Me and the wife went to the Yankees game in 2011, on honeymoon. Glad we did but left after 5 innings.
Nice to experience how they do sport.
Got our tickets off Stubhub
 
I watch every Tampa Bay Rays game either live or on-delay and will be at a bunch of spring training games in Florida next month. If you are going as a one-off, go lower level and pay upto $100 for the best seats you can get around the infield. It is always the fielding that amazes most first-time viewers. The pitching is easier to follow on TV suffice to say it is a lot harder than I threw when I played in the British League - but enjoy the whole experience.

We got the front row in block 214, halfway between Home and first, in the second tier. Wanted front row so my daughter has a clear view, and thought the bottom tier could be a bit low to see the rest of the infield from. $55 each, thought that was a bargain tbh. Looking forward to it.
 
Me and the wife went to the Yankees game in 2011, on honeymoon. Glad we did but left after 5 innings.
Nice to experience how they do sport.
Got our tickets off Stubhub
The wife and I went to Fenway Park, on our Honeymoon, in 2012, can’t recall how long we stayed, but to me it was very much like cricket - if you don’t know the nuances of the game, it’s hard to follow - but it’s also drinking in the sun, so always good.
 
We got the front row in block 214, halfway between Home and first, in the second tier. Wanted front row so my daughter has a clear view, and thought the bottom tier could be a bit low to see the rest of the infield from. $55 each, thought that was a bargain tbh. Looking forward to it.

There are two Mets pitchers I will be after in my various fantasy league drafts despite their injury histories, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndegaard. If you get to see one of them pitch then you are in for a treat. They both bring some serious heat. Teams have rotations of five starting pitchers so it will be pot luck if you get one of them though.
 
Never mind the game go and find some batting cages. Brilliant fun !!!!!! Watchout for the fast ones though. Whhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooooosh !
 
Never mind the game go and find some batting cages. Brilliant fun !!!!!! Watchout for the fast ones though. Whhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooooosh !

Do they have them inside the ground complex? We would both fancy a go at that and will get there early if it is an option. I would guess during the game itself it would get pretty busy.
 
There are two Mets pitchers I will be after in my various fantasy league drafts despite their injury histories, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndegaard. If you get to see one of them pitch then you are in for a treat. They both bring some serious heat. Teams have rotations of five starting pitchers so it will be pot luck if you get one of them though.

Id be very surprised if either of them were pitching, we’re going to the Rays vs Red Sox.

Lord Tyrion might have a shot at seeing them though ;)
 
Id be very surprised if either of them were pitching, we’re going to the Rays vs Red Sox.

Lord Tyrion might have a shot at seeing them though ;)

Fair point - the Rays are busy salary dumping right now and traded away Jake "Five Inning" Odorizzi for nothing to the Twins and released Corey Dickinson. Could be another long year in Tampa which has a pig sty for a stadium. No way a new one is built downtown in Tampa rather than St.Pete and the franchise will move in a few years.
 
Never mind the game go and find some batting cages. Brilliant fun !!!!!! Watchout for the fast ones though. Whhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooooosh !

Still remember when I went in one in Tampa whilst I was still playing in the British national league. Set it for 85 mph which was the fastest it would go, bunted a couple to get my eye in and then started hitting line drives all over the place. Dead easy when they're coming in straight over the middle of the plate with no movement. Guy who ran the cage was impressed that a Brit could do that until my wife told him I played for Great Britain.
 
Still remember when I went in one in Tampa whilst I was still playing in the British national league. Set it for 85 mph which was the fastest it would go, bunted a couple to get my eye in and then started hitting line drives all over the place. Dead easy when they're coming in straight over the middle of the plate with no movement. Guy who ran the cage was impressed that a Brit could do that until my wife told him I played for Great Britain.

I had an uncle who had a similar experience. He had played cricket all his life and so a ball coming at the same height, pace, no bounce, no swerve was a piece of cake. He launched one after another. He did wink at me and accept that a proper pitcher who would vary pace and make it wobble would be a different beast but a machine chucking out straight pitches was easy meat. Good fun though and I will try to get a go in one. Problem for me is I was more a manoeuvring batsman, a timer of the ball, than a straight up hitter so I doubt I will be impressing anyone.
 
Do they ever throw the ball at the batter? In like the same way a fast cricket bowler would bounce a batsman, or are they just aiming to get the ball to the backstop?
 
Do they ever throw the ball at the batter? In like the same way a fast cricket bowler would bounce a batsman, or are they just aiming to get the ball to the backstop?

If they do and hit him then after the benches have cleared and the handbags are over the batter is walked to first base I believe. It's a no no.
 
Do they ever throw the ball at the batter? In like the same way a fast cricket bowler would bounce a batsman, or are they just aiming to get the ball to the backstop?

Throwing inside is part of the game as it stops a batter crowding the plate. You can always tell when it's done intentionally and the umpires will usually give the other team once chance to retaliate. The fights only start when it gets out of control with paybacks for paybacks.

I threw at a batter twice in my British League career. OK I hit a few more unintentionally. Both times it was to defend my team-mates and everyone knew it.
 
I had an uncle who had a similar experience. He had played cricket all his life and so a ball coming at the same height, pace, no bounce, no swerve was a piece of cake. He launched one after another. He did wink at me and accept that a proper pitcher who would vary pace and make it wobble would be a different beast but a machine chucking out straight pitches was easy meat. Good fun though and I will try to get a go in one. Problem for me is I was more a manoeuvring batsman, a timer of the ball, than a straight up hitter so I doubt I will be impressing anyone.

We had Ian Botham at the 1989 British Baseball final at The Oval and I was commentating on it. When the crowds were in, he was hitting home runs in batting practice off fastballs. Earlier before everyone arrived, we had him all over the place trying to connect on a curveball or when we mixed pitches up. Different eye level and movement. But Sir Ian was a legend that day - I was crapping myself having to interview him on the field in front of everyone but he made it easy for me. One for the scrap book that was.
 
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