...please! I've just read "Moneyball" and didn't understand most of the baseball jargon and terminology (which most of the book is made up of ). What are the best resources on the 'net for baseball info and does anybody know of any webcasts or downloads of games that an enthusiast in the UK can view? Cheers Reachy
Sorry mate but I'm a football fan! That's "real" football and NOT soccer. Hey Ace - little help over here!
Insomnia There's occasional baseball on Channel 5, in the wee small hours. But you should really be watching cricket!
First Soccer then Cricket! Holy Moly! Actually since Beckman has come across the pond I've seen more about it here. But cricket? Which one? The one with the funny bat or the one that makes lots of noise at night?
I admit that at times it can be debatable which of the two crickets would be more entertaining. Actually, as I type this I am listening to the radio commentary of England vs India. I can't watch it live as I refuse to line Rupert Murdoch's pockets and pay for Sky TV. And on this occasion it does sound like an entertaining game.
sabremetrics Colin, you should read Moneyball, it will appeal to your mathematical side. I enjoy cricket but I have always been fascinated by rounders . Actually, a lot of the statistics used in baseball were invented by an Englishman with a cricketing background at the end of the 19th century. BTW, Sky+ is the dogs 'nads! It has completely changed the way I watch TV. I never watch anything "live" now, awesome, it's like having your own TV channel, and I've got multiroom as well. (Actually they show MLB on one of the minority sports channels but my wife recently made me reduce our package and that channel had to go. I couldn't justify the need for 300+ channels!!!) Cheers Reachy
I agree that Moneyball is a great book. For the background you are looking for, I think my first stop would be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball. Other sites I'd send you to would assume you have the knowledge that you don't. I think we'd be willing to explain anything you are not familiar with. Baseball is probably the hardest game to explain the basic rules of, even though it's easy to follow when you actually see it or grow up with it. As for places to watch on the web, if you go to www.mlb.com, I believe you can download live games cheaply and possibly watch old games for free.
Try' Baseball for Dummies' It's a book which explains all the terminology and explains the rules to us unenlightened english
babelfish Thanks for the responses so far. fgk - Sky+ is very similar to TiVo. It's a satellite TV receiver box that contains a hard drive to record TV. It allows live pause and rewind and the automatic recording of not just one program but an entire series. You can record 2 programs and watch one you have already recorded at the same time. As I've said before, it's changed the way I watch TV, it's just awesome. "The Dog's 'Nads" is a version of what some would consider a vulgar English phrase meaning fantastic, brilliant, awesome. I'm not sure of it's origins (probably cockney rhyming slang) but the more common usage is "the dogs bollocks" as in "You should have seen Hollywood Dave's latest hair style, it was the dogs bollocks!" Sometimes it is shortened to just "the dogs" as in "that keyboard tray they are giving away at ClubUBT is the dogs" Hope this helps. Cheers Reachy BTW - What's Billy Beane up to now?
There are alternatives to Sky/Sky+ that also allow you the same functionality, just not all the same channels. I know it's a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face, but Sky's tactic of buying up every major sporting event in order to force people to subscribe has made me a dedicated refusenik. Not much rhymes with bollocks! It would appear to be just a rude variation of "The cat's whiskers". Did you see any of the BBC Wordhunt programme, "Balderdash and Piffle", presented by the poker-playing lovely, Vicky Coren? I missed the episode, but apparently this phrase was among those featured - http://oed.com/bbcwordhunt/list.html#dog-bollocks I think there was a fad in the 1920s for inventing such phrases - the something's something. Some stuck and some disappeared. The surreal ones are the best, deliberately combining two unlikely items: The Cat's Pyjamas, and my personal favourite: The Wasp's Nipples.
ok, I figured as much but I wasn't sure if I was right or if I had to eat some of Noman's pyote for complete understanding. The funny thing is that every region has their little vernacular sayings - even over here I've heard people tell me, Well that dog won't hunt or That fits in like boots on a rooster or Well you get the idea. That's one of the reasons I continue to come here - I learn the darnest things!
FYI, Beane is still the GM of the A's and in general still does well in the regualr season but can't seem to have his team get it together for the playoffs.
Murdoch Colin, I am aware of the alternatives but us rural types out in the sticks have fewer options than you cockney sparras . I have the options of Sky+ or erm, that's it. I could get freeview but it would involve erecting a large expensive antenna and since Sky are basically giving Sky+ away these days how can I refuse. I've also found MLB broadcasts on Channel 5 as you suggested. They are on at 2:30am!! Sky+ is set up to record with a series link. Cheers Reachy
Immediately preceded by a poker tournament. I was going to suggest that this scheduling is an indication of the size of audience for both these 'sports' in this country, but in fairness the baseball is live, so there isn't much choice about the timing. We also have the chance to see "David Beckham's Soccer USA" right now (7:15pm), and then turn over to BBC1 to see if his ankle will be allowing him to play for England v Germany. Truly, there is no escape.
