take me out to the shake shack

June 19, 2012 6:22 AM

Help me understand baseball in time for the Mets/Orioles game tonight!

I have box seat tickets to Citi Field tonight, and while I'm excited about Shake Shack and Brooklyn Brewery, I know pretty much nothing about baseball. I mean, I know the basic rules and I've been to a couple of games before where I enjoyed the comraderie and the yelling, but I know baseball is one of those sports where the more you know, the more you appreciate it. So, what can I learn before tonight?

I saw several past questions (1, 2) and I'll be reading through them and the sports blogs referenced in them today, but I'd love to know more about what, specifically, to pay attention to in the Mets/Orioles game tonight. Is there a fantastic pitcher whose form I should appreciate? Might there be a big upset in the 5th inning? Is this the Mets' last chance to win the Magical Golden Baseball?

posted by LeeLanded to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (21 answers total)

Tonight's starting pitcher for the Mets, Johan Santana, threw a no-hitter on June 1, but his last two starts haven't been so good.
posted by lukemeister at 6:31 AM on June 19, 2012

Well, here's something to notice. The Orioles are an American League team and they're playing in a National League park which means it will be under NL rules. This means that the Designated Hitter rule will not be in effect and the pitcher will be forced to bat for the Orioles. Usually the pitcher will sit out and be replaced by a Designated Hitter in American League games. So sit back and watch the AL pitcher strike out a lot tonight. (Not that the NL pitcher will do any better usually...)
posted by inturnaround at 6:32 AM on June 19, 2012

Santana's no-hitter was the only one thrown by a Met during their 50+-year history.
posted by lukemeister at 6:32 AM on June 19, 2012

When you get towards the end of the national anthem and hit the line, "Oh, say does that star-spangled banner," be sure to yell extra-loud on the "OH!"
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:34 AM on June 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Best answer: It is an interesting game, insofar as both teams are outperforming their fundamentals. Baltimore, a team that nobody thought would have a chance this year, has spent most of the season thus far on top of the American League East, considered perhaps the most competitive in baseball, depending on the season (it is the division with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Blue Jays). The Mets also should be having a tough season, and play in a very competitive National League East, but are also outperforming. The interesting thing is that, currently, the Mets are on their way up and the Orioles on their way down.

Of course, it's also interleague, which, for many baseball fans (including me), is an abomination. For an AL team playing in a NL park, things to watch is for the Orioles to, probably a little awkwardly, play a little more aggressive on base—stealing, perhaps trying to push a double to a triple, or getting from first to third—more than they generally would.


Is there a fantastic pitcher whose form I should appreciate? Meh, Santana's kinda old, and Hunter is pretty young, yet middling. Neither team has a great bullpen, so it could turn into a hit-fest.

Might there be a big upset in the 5th inning? Actually, maybe. This could be decided by either team's lackluster bullpen, and either starter could be pulled as early as 5.

Is this the Mets' last chance to win the Magical Golden Baseball? This... Well, let's say that the Mets could use this win, as the NL E is surprisingly soft, so they could have a chance for the playoffs if they can keep picking up wins (and the Nats falter later in the season).
posted by General Malaise at 6:45 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

General Malaise has covered the salient baseball-specific points, I'd say. I'll only add: don't forget to check out Blue Smoke for the barbeque!
posted by mlle valentine at 6:49 AM on June 19, 2012

Here's a letter by philosopher John Rawls in which he calls baseball the "best of all games."

I particularly like these points:

First: the rules of the game are in equilibrium: that is, from the start, the diamond was made just the right size, the pitcher’s mound just the right distance from home plate, etc., and this makes possible the marvelous plays, such as the double play. The physical layout of the game is perfectly adjusted to the human skills it is meant to display and to call into graceful exercise.

[...]

Fourth: all plays of the game are open to view: the spectators and the players can see what is going on. Per contra football where it is hard to know what is happening in the battlefront along the line. Even the umpires can’t see it all, so there is lots of cheating etc. And in basketball, it is hard to know when to call a foul. There are close calls in baseball too, but the umps do very well on the whole, and these close calls arise from the marvelous timing built into the game and not from trying to police cheaters etc.

Fifth: baseball is the only game where scoring is not done with the ball, and this has the remarkable effect of concentrating the excitement of plays at different points of the field at the same time. Will the runner cross the plate before the fielder gets to the ball and throws it to home plate, and so on.

posted by davextreme at 6:49 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Met's pitcher RA Dickey won the Golden Baseball for the first half of the season last night by throwing his 2nd straight 1 hitter. It also was the first ever 2nd straight 1 hitter in which the pitcher also struck out at least 10 in each game. This is all coming from a 37 year old born without an ulna nerve.

An interesting point about tonight's games from a NYer standpoint is that Yankee fans will be rooting for the Mets and Mets fans for the Yankee as each team plays their cross town's divisional rival.

It is also one of the few times each year that both the Mets and Yanks play at home at the same time.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:51 AM on June 19, 2012

Adding to daveextreme, baseball also has no clock. There is no strategy involved in running down the clock. Every game, you still need to record 27 outs no matter how long it takes.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:54 AM on June 19, 2012

When you get towards the end of the national anthem and hit the line, "Oh, say does that star-spangled banner," be sure to yell extra-loud on the "OH!"

For many, many, many reasons, do not do this.
posted by inigo2 at 6:54 AM on June 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

I don't know if this will help, but I think watching baseball becomes more interesting when you shift from thinking of it as a series of probabilistic events that turn out one way or another to thinking of it a series of choices that the players and their coaches are making to try to affect the odds of those events. I used to just think that the pitcher was always trying to get strikes and the batter was always trying to get a home run and the fielders were always trying to field anything that came their way. But it's infinitely more complicated than that. If the pitcher only throws down-the-middle strikes it's easier for the batter to get hits. If the batter only tries to hit home runs it's more likely he will strike out. The fielders will change their position on the field depending on what the scenario is and the odds of different kinds of plays happening. Everyone is constantly making choices and it's interesting to think about why they are doing what they are doing, how much if it is simply about probabilities and how much is more about game theory (anticipating what the other party will do and adjusting to that) and how it affects the game.

Anyway. The other fun thing about going to games in NYC is that there is often a huge contingent of fans from the opposing team because all of that team's baseball fans who live in New York take the chance to come out. Maybe this is more of a phenomenon for West Coast teams (NYC Orioles fans could pretty easily just go to a game in Baltimore I guess) but I always enjoy it especially because those fans are often more motivated than dispirited Mets fans (that's also less true just now).
posted by yarrow at 7:04 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

One thing you can to watch at the ballpark that you can't necessarily see on tv is how the defense aligns itself for each batter. From that you can often tell how they plan on getting each batter out. Watch how often the defense shifts to one side or the other, and then that ends up being exactly where the ball is hit.

Maybe also try to visit the bullpen plaza later in the game when there are pitchers warming up. It is incredible to watch major league pitchers up close like that.

If your seats are on the third base side, be alert for foul balls when left handed batters are up, and vice versa.
posted by Balonious Assault at 7:07 AM on June 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

Best answer: When you're in Baltimore, where it's traditional, you should certainly yell "O" (not "Oh!") during the anthem, but it's not to be done at away games.

Johan Santana is a guy you'll be able to tell your kids about having seen -- two-time winner of the Cy Young Award (best pitcher in the league) and still a first-rate pitcher, though not as dominant as he was a few years ago. Hunter is pretty bad, probably Baltimore's weakest starting pitcher and a prime candidate to get demoted to the minor leagues as soon as Zach Britton comes back from the disabled list. And if you think I mean something subtle by "pretty bad" that will be hard for a novice to appreciate, never fear -- Hunter's particular weakness is that he serves up an insane number of home run balls, so you're likely to get to see the Mets hit some long balls tonight.

Seconding that there's lots of fun to be had watching American League pitchers try to hit. Hunter has batted against major league pitching ONCE in his entire career, back in 2010 (he struck out.) This is your best chance to get a partial picture of what it would look like for a normal human to face a major league pitcher.

I'm an O's fan and know them much better than the Mets, so here's some Orioles stuff to watch:

* The Orioles bullpen (the pitchers who come in after the starting pitcher finishes, which in Hunter's case could be pretty early) are superb, one of the very best in baseball right now. So if the Orioles are ahead in the 7th inning, it may be hard for the Mets to come back. The Orioles manager, Buck Showalter, might have a "quick hook" (i.e. might be inclined to replace Hunter quickly) if the game is close and he feels Hunter is tiring, since Hunter is very capable of giving up a lot of runs very quickly. If you're lucky, you'll get to see Darren O'Day, who throws the "submarine," a sort of crazy sidearm delivery that's nothing like any other pitch you're likely to see.

* Matt Wieters, Baltimore's catcher, is generally considered the best defensive catcher in the league; if a Mets baserunner tries to steal a base, he'll catch the ball, stand, and rifle a throw directly to the glove of the second baseman in position to make the tag. It's really something to watch him cut down a baserunner.

* The most exciting Orioles batter right now is Adam Jones, the center fielder; just a big, tall, rangy, excitable guy who chews a lot of bubble gum and hits a lot of monster home runs.

* The Orioles have battled with defensive problems all season, especially at third base. You should be aware that when the Mets hit a ball hard on the ground to the left side, a lot of weird things might happen.

Enjoy!
posted by escabeche at 7:22 AM on June 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Baseball is a game of great subtlety. The complexity is not obvious to new fans and they find it boring, and sometimes these things aren't picked up by the TV cameras because they only show one part of the field. Here are some neat things to watch for in the ballpark:

Pitching and batting is an elaborate game-theory exercise. If a pitcher throws the ball straight and fast -- a type of pitch known as a 'fastball' -- any capable hitter will be able to hit it, no matter how fast, as long as they start swinging at the right time. Watch and you'll see how the batter begins shifting his weight and beginning his swing well before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. What's going on is that the batter is guessing about how fast the ball will come, and whether it will be hittable (in the strike zone), and is preparing for it. If he expect the pitch to be fast and straight he is said to be "thinking fastball". After the ball is released, he has an instant to observe the ball leave the pitcher's hand before he has to commit to a swing or not. The pitcher knows this, and might throw a ball that is intended to look like a fastball, but is actually quite a bit slower (an 'off-speed pitch'), so that the batter commits to a swing, but the ball arrives later than expected, a split second after the barrel of the bat has swung through the zone. Swing and a miss, steee-rike! Likewise the pitcher might throw a ball outside the strike zone and try to entice the hitter to swing -- if the ball arrives outside the comfort spot, the hitter will be off-balance reaching for it and will likely miss. But of course if a hitter sees it coming and can tell that it's going to be out of the strike zone, they won't swing, and thus it's a ball, and four balls give them a free base. But knowing this, pitcher's will throw curveballs that appear as if they're going to be outside the strike zone, enticing the batter NOT to swing, and the spin on the ball brings it into the strike zone at the last second. Steee-rike! But of course the batter knows this might happen too, and if they are expecting a curveball, they'll probably hit it. Therefore the pitcher can disguise his delivery so that it looks like he will through a slow looping curveball but actually throws something faster. And so on. The best pitchers are wickedly deceptive and make it impossible for batters to time and place their swings, which means they end up off-balance, swinging early or late, and generally looking foolish.

There's a kind of meta-game that goes on, similar to what you see in poker, or starcraft (if you watch that). Some pitches are tricky to hit and more likely to result in ground ball outs. Some are more likely to result in fly balls. Left handed batters have a hard time against left-handed pitchers because of the way the direction their curveballs move. Pitchers will have some pitches that are stronger than others, and this will vary over the course of the game as their arms tire and their speeds fade. So at any given moment, depending on the inning, runners on base, score, fatigue level of the pitcher, and relative strengths and weaknesses of the pitcher and batter, there are a few pitches which are the best choice for the situation, and the pitcher and batter are trying to out-guess one another.

Before every pitch, the catcher and pitcher must agree on what the pitcher is about to throw, so that the catcher is roughly in the right place to catch it. If the pitcher throws one in the dirt and the catcher was expecting it high, he might miss it. So before every pitch, every single pitch, the catcher will propose a series of pitches, and the pitcher will accept or reject with a slight nod or shake of the head. Signals are done using the catcher's free hand, held between the legs, like this. The number of fingers corresponds to different types of pitches (fastball, curveball, slider, each of which come at different speeds and break differently), and the location of the fingers, right or left thigh, correspond to whether the pitch will be inside towards the batter, or outside away from him. You can watch for these signals and see how the catcher shuffles around to position himself for the pitch. Also you might notice that if the opposing team has a baserunner on second base, they'll spy on the signals and relay them to the batter by lifting their arms left or right for inside and outside.

In fact, catchers specialize in choosing the correct pitch for the situation. Pitchers have to accept it, yes or no, but the strategic arc of an at-bat usually comes from the catcher. Sometimes they will get mixed up or disagree and you'll see the catcher call time out and trot to the mound -- in such cases they are trying to agree on a strategy of pitches for the batter.

There's also a meta-game that the managers play in terms of the pitcher-batter matchup. Starting pitchers are like distance runners -- they have huge amounts of stamina and can usually be counted to pitch 5 or 6 innings, or more, before they begin to tire and become less effective. Relief pitchers are sprinters -- good for one or two innings, intense speed or break on their pitches, but tire quickly. Opposing batters will generally get used to a starting pitcher's rhythms as they will get a few at-bats against him. Managers will replace pitchers in order to keep batters off-balance, and to take advantage of specialist pitchers who may have a significant edge on certain batters. In the late game managers may counter-act these movements by replacing their batters with their own specialist hitters they keep on the bench. This is not done lightly because one replaced a player cannot return, and the specialist hitters are usually less consistent than the starters; it's strictly a tactical advantage that would see them enter the game.

You can also watch for the positioning of the fielders, which will be shifting constantly depending on the pitcher-batter matchup and the situation. Fielders will shift right or left depending on which part of the field a batter is more likely to hit to, and will move shallow or deep depending on the tactical advantages to doing so. For example, if there is a baserunner on third, the infield may move very shallow so that a ground ball can be fielded and thrown home to stop a run. That carries a risk as it gives the infielders less time to react. And you can watch the baserunners, hitter, and third base coaches, who exchange elaborate hand signals to determine if the runners will attempt to steal, or if the hitter will bunt to move the runners along, or any number of options.

One last thing to look for that I find fascinating to watch is the incredible skill the fielders show in backing one another up. Because there is always a chance of an errant throw or that a ball will take a bad hop and skip past a fielder, on every single play all the fielders will madly reposition themselves to hedge against these outcomes. For example, watch for the catcher to move behind first base on ground balls so they can scoop up a missed throw. On any given play, every fielder will be moving to a useful place, even if the play is not likely to come anywhere near them. It's beautiful to watch.
posted by PercussivePaul at 7:54 AM on June 19, 2012 [8 favorites]

Keep score during the game! You can buy a program with a scorecard and a pencil, and it comes with instructions. Record the outcome of every play, and at the end of the game you'll have an awesome personal souvenir of that game.

Bonus: If something crazy happens like a no-hitter or a triple play, you'll have a legit collectors item.

Degree of difficulty: You must pay 100% attention to the game for every out. Also, there will be plays where you don't know what happened. Was that a hit or an error? That guy just struck out, why is he running to first? etc. But that will give you a chance to talk to the people in the seats around you, who will be happy to help. Baseball fans love to talk about baseball.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:27 AM on June 19, 2012

Response by poster: Lots of great answers, thanks so much everyone. I apologize for the over-enthusiastic marking of best answers, but everyone's help is really getting me excited for the game.
posted by LeeLanded at 9:25 AM on June 19, 2012

In explaining baseball, one thing that is easy to take for granted is how effing complicated the rules are. It makes it hard to pick a set of areas to look for.

For example, several years ago I attended a game with several coworkers who didn't grow up in the US and consequently had little concept of baseball. You get the jist - pitcher throws, batter tries to hit, runners try to get from base to base ahead of the ball. Simple, right? Well, no. I found myself explaining the sacrifice fly rule, infield fly rule and ground rule double.

Things that I think are worth looking for: watch how when a new batter steps up, the outfielders and infielders shift their positions. See if you can predict just by looking at the fielders (don't look at the batter) the right/left handedness of the batter and the how much of a slugger the batter is. See if you can predict when they might try to do a hit and run play.

With a runner on first or second, watch the third base coach when the ball is hit. If he's doing his job, he won't be looking at the runner. Instead, he will be looking where the ball has been hit and will be signaling the runner. When you're a runner, your job is to watch the coach, not the the ball.
posted by plinth at 10:03 AM on June 19, 2012

Speaking of RA Dickey, Jesse Thorn did a wonderful interview with him on Bullseye. The man has had one interesting career and is the only pitcher in the bigs who throws the unconventional knuckleball. He won't be playing tonight, but it's a wonderful story.
posted by inturnaround at 10:31 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

It may help you understand the atmosphere at Citi Field at the game if you realize that Santana's no-hitter gave Mets fans something we'd been waiting and hoping for our entire lives (and the team's entire life) — basically, he can do no wrong at this point. So even though his last couple of starts have been lackluster, he's likely to get some of the loudest and most unwavering cheers from a crowd that otherwise is often inclined toward "what have you done for me lately?" In general since the no-hitter, and with Dickey's insane performance for the last month and the Mets' surprisingly winning play early this year, the crowd will probably be fairly focused on the game, where in previous months/years the vibe at Citi has often been a more casual "let's hang out and get some Shake Shack burgers" situation (much to the chagrin of the hardcore baseball fan).

As far as actual baseball stuff to know, here's the Mets side to complement the Orioles notes above: Johan Santana is mostly a fastball-changeup pitcher at this point (meaning he mixes a deceptively slow pitch around 78-80mph with a fast pitch around 88-90mph, with more of an emphasis on timing/speed deception than movement). So watch the scoreboard for the pitch speeds and look for poorly timed swings from Orioles batters if he's doing well; another key indicator would be his ability to hit the corners on the bottom of the strike zone, so you'll want to watch how the home-plate ump calls those pitches early in the game.

Ike Davis, the Mets' young first baseman, has been astonishingly terrible at hitting so far in his sophomore season (like, he's about the worst regular hitter in baseball) but is starting to show signs of coming out of it, culminating in hitting a grand slam that plated most of the runs in yesterday's game. The crowd will be cheering for any more signs that his struggles are over. Daniel Murphy (second baseman) is also in a bit of a slump so far this season. David Wright (third baseman) may be cooling off after a crazy MVP-caliber early season but is still the team's one real star position player. The shortstop and left-field spots will be occupied by a rotating cast of replacement players because the Mets have had multiple injuries to their starters at those positions.
posted by RogerB at 10:57 AM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you wanna go deep, you need to understand the heartbreak of being a Mets fan.
posted by thinkpiece at 11:31 AM on June 19, 2012

On a non-technical note, JJ Hardy, who plays shortstop for the Orioles and will probably bat second, is pretty handsome.
posted by robot vacuum at 1:33 PM on June 19, 2012 [1 favorite]