I'll be looking forward to reading your reports on your first season! Sounds like you've found a good team with good teammates, and you'll find yourself getting better and better.

Hope so, I ended up fielding in right today but due to the light couldn't get any BP in, still opening game Sunday (weather permitting!)

I think it's great that you've found a league to play in! Sport is never as easy as it looks, huh? (I find that true with power soccer at every practice...) Keep us updated on your trials and tribulations with baseball. :) Good luck!!

Picking up a sport as an adult (even at 21) can be quite difficult, especially if you've never done anything like it before. Do you have much cricketing experience? The skillsets are obviously different, but there's enough similarity to be useful. The most important factor is probably hand-eye coordination, which is something Association Football (hehe) types don't have to worry about nearly so much, except of course for keepers.

Many years ago - more years than I care to think about - I was a little lad living in Sri Lanka. Somehow my father got involved in MLB's effort to bring baseball to the island, which of course meant I got involved. We spent quite a few weekends on the road, bringing bags of donated equipment to interested schools, and running through demonstrations of batting and fielding and so forth. Most of the kids had played cricket, and it definitely helped them - their style was unorthodox, but it generally worked.

Good luck - and remember to practice the tactical skills, like backing up fielders on throws and so forth, as well as the mechanical skills. It can be tough to pick up on the tube, as the camera tends to focus on the ball, but a well-drilled team reacting to a ball in play is a beautiful thing. And it's a thing that can only be created through lots of practice, both individual and collective...

Look forward to hearing more about your adventures on the field of dreams down the line. I wouldn't mind having a shot at it here, but I doubt many teams here would be interested in a forty-something with no experience! [As an aside, maybe I should join the Arizona Cricket Association instead?]

If you do have any cricket experience, imagine that would help, since the basic hand-eye co-ordination is the same, as Rex noted. However, the hitting style is very different as my attempts in a batting cage proved: in cricket, you are taught to get on top of the ball and hit it down, which is not the case in baseball. Nice article on Wikipedia about the differences between baseball and cricket here.

I've added a link to the Bisons site in the sidebar, just for amusement. Have you got any merchandise? I think it might be kinda cool to wear a Bisons shirt to Chase Field one of these days!

hitting is massively different between cricket and baseball. That's the most difficult skill to pick up, regardless of prior experience - you'd be amazed how many people step with the back foot rather than the front when first learning. It's that twist in the hips and torso that really powers the bat (not unlike tennis, really) and that requires keeping the back foot well planted to pivot on.

I haven't played cricket in forever... sigh. My father is posted in Barbados at the moment, and the lucky dog had a chance to go to a couple of matches during the last ODI world cup. (I think he saw Ireland, in fact.)

You should try a softball team if you haven't already, Jim. Lots of fun, and being a forty-something with no experience is no handicap in slow-pitch, if you can walk and talk at the same time. You can do that, right? :)

No merchandise as of yet ;) we've only got 12 uniforms or so between us but if we win the league I'll send you mine!

It really is a difference to cricket, in so much as you have to move your feet alot more in cricket (as peachy mentioned) also the balls often at your body in cricket whereas baseball its away from you (I think I prefer the 80mph balls away from my body to be honest ;) ) Thanks for all the support so far guys! but anyway as for my debut....

In our opening spring training game we were due to take on the Guildford Mavericks in a game switched to their home ground as ours was not ready for game action due to weather hampering the preparation of the diamond. So we all turned up at Reading's Madjeski Stadium (the home of a horror show the day before) in order to convoy our way the 25 miles or so to Guildford and arrived about 12pm, some 2 hours before first pitch. Upon arriving to the game I couldn't help but be underwhelmed by the venue. In what looked like an uncut field with a few backboards and some wire fence it was hardly a debut at Chase on top of this it was pouring with rain and there were some doubts whether the game would go ahead. Regardless of this I was told I'd be playing right field and batting 6th with my chum Steve batting 9th and in left field.

After BP and some fielding drills the game began and we led of the game with back to back strikeouts before our captain drilled one into centre for a basehit. A walk followed and it looked as if I might be called into action when another basehit drove in a run, however our number 5 hitter struck out to leave us 1-0 up at the top of the first. The bottom half of the inning saw our starting pitcher get through with just 1 hit without my coming anywhere close to fielding the ball and so with myself due up we were 1-0 to the good leading off the second.

As i walked to the plate I had butterflies in my stomach and really wondered whether the pitcher (a slightly fatter version of Dan Haren..) could tell how nervous I really way. After a couple of quick practise strokes I dug in and Mr Haren promptly delivered a ball just inside. Whilst not slow the pitch was hardly Randyesque and that gave me a lot of confidence and helped me relax and so the very next pitch came just over my belt right over the plate and I slashed at it, somehow making contact. Truth be told I have no idea where the ball went, I just heard the cries from the sidelines of GO GO GO and with that darted towards first base. For some unknown reason I really did expect a cannon arm from some infielder to first base and so slid into first base feet first...only to quickly realise there wasn't even a throw to the base. Despite my slight embarrassment of my over the top slide I couldn't have been more happy getting a base hit in my first AB, at that moment I really didn't care what happened the rest of my baseball 'career' I had that hit to my name. I then advanced thanks to a walk and a single before a double scored me home (and Steve who had the single) to record my first run and help us to a 3-0 advantage.

More quality stuff from our pitchers followed as the Mavericks hitters swung at just about anything, with a double play bringing a second to the close with us still 3-0 to the good.

Despite more rain we continued on as I once again found myself on deck as the top of the 3rd came to a close with us now 6-0 up. The Mavericks did muster a run on an error from our 2nd baseman but with a 6-1 cushion I felt a lot easier stepping up for my 2nd AB.

Once again Mr Haren was on the mound and I again took ball one. This time though I managed to get clean contact with his second pitch, driving it through right centre field to what would be the wall (if they had a wall...) for a stand up double. Fortunately I scored again on a passed ball and a single to put us 7-1 up. By the end of the inning it had become 8-1 and once again despite one run scoring for the Mavericks we looked set for the victory (and I'd still to touch the ball in right field...)

It was the 5th that killed any remaining contest in the game as the Maverick's relief pitcher struggled badly with his control as we batted round, including a long single which drove in two runners and a walk for myself, the later on a 3-2 count. Subsequently by the end of the top of the 5th it was a 16-2 ballgame. After a fruitless bottom of the 5th from the Mavericks we agreed to call it quits after the 6th, yet there was still time for me to have my 5th AB (and to move to centre field) Unfortunately this time i popped up short to the pitcher and again didn't touch the ball, but it didn't matter as we cruised in at 16-2.

All in all I couldn't have had more fun despite the rain and lacklustre nature of the opposition. I learned a heck of alot about baserunning and field positioning but the best part of the day was just being out there actually playing a game I've loved to watch for the past 7 years of my life. In all honesty we'll probably never win a game so easily again and I'll doubt i'll have a 3 hit game again this season but as a start, this one will be hard to top.

Final Score. Thames Valley Bisons 16 - Guildford Mavericks 2

DW: RF/CF 4AB 3H 2R 2RBI 1BB .750

I'll try and get some pics up as I took a few but for now I need a bath....

Hope that wasn't too long winded! and lets go D-Backs :)

For you:
Three hits on their debut

A solid list, including Fukudome of the Cubs this year, but also Milton Bradley, Mike Piazza...and Travis Lee. :-)

Congrats on the win. I expect you to start chants of "It's just like playing the D-backs" every time your team reaches double figures.

We're in the bottom divison of the British Baseball League and last season finished 1 from the bottom so the only way is up :)

Foulpole,

Yeah its wierd for me too but baseball just isn’t played here. An example in point is that we have a 2 hour journey in our next away game, the friendly we played last week was our shortest road trip at just under an hour.

This Sunday we just have a practise as our opposition bailed, but next week its away to Southampton

When you wonder if you’ll ever get something right?

A question I was really asking myself after I dropped my 4th catch of about 7 attempts during outfielders fielding practise on Sunday. With no game this week we held a 2 hour practise on our home field and returned to some basic (supposedly simple) fielding drills to fine tune us for Sundays opening league encounter with Southampton.

Once again I was placed in the outfielders group, but Steve was given a try out at first base due to the fact that he’s the only left hander we have in the lineup. To his credit Steve fielding pretty well dropping very few and looking confident on the bag.

As for me….I had a ‘mare as I literally could not catch a cold based on my performance taking fly balls. I could blame the sun yeah, but when the ball pops out of your glove its pretty hard to blame anyone but yourself (although as a side note everyone always seems to look at their glove as if asking it for answers) On the plus side I batted well and took ground balls pretty effectivley too.

Anyway here’s to hoping that the ball doesn’t find me in right field on Sunday ;)

And this has dropped…waaaay of the fanposts but I’m going to keep on writing :)

I’ve not been able to play much recently due to the great British springtime weather, just today we’ve had our weekly midweek practise cancelled due to the rain.

One week ago today I went along to practise at around 7:30pm which whilst it’s still light, left very little time before the ball got to dark to see. Nevertheless we managed to do a few drills and I think my throwing power is maybe 20% up on when I started? (Heck I don’t really know but its roughly right and baseball is all about the statistics) With the light all but gone making batting and fielding drills impossible to do safely we used what time we had left to practise base running. As a team we had been appalling on the basepaths during our game with Guildford as we hadn’t managed to cover it before that first game. So I went into the excersise with an open mind and eager to learn but quickly saw that it was a lot more difficult then I’d imagine. I always thought that you had to watch the pitchers arm, so it was surprising to be told the intricacies of watching the pitchers legs to see whether he could pick me off or not. I kinda felt like a ballet dancer at times learning the pattern of steps needed to take a lead and to get back, but heck what’s the point in learning something new if you don’t look like a fool half the time ;) Once the light finally went full stop it was time for home…via McDonalds as I needed McFlurry based energy foods…..

Our scheduled game against Southampton found itself cancelled as Southampton had a fixture clash so we found ourselves scratched. In place of this we were due to have a practise, but sadly I came down with a virus which ruled me out. This weekend brings the first league game of the season away at Bracknell but I won’t be there to take part as I’m away at my old uni keeping a long made promise to go back and see some folks.

Anyway here’s hoping for a Bisons win (but not with enough style to make me redundant ;) )

I always took for granted being able to throw on a glove and grab a bat and not embarrass myself. I can’t imagine at 33 trying to learn how to play cricket on a whim. Congratulations on sticking with it…not sure if I would have the patience.

On a side note: Us AZ folks should really consider getting a softball game together one of these days. I think it would be an absolute riot!

Thanks for all the comments so far guys! will try and grab some more pics soon

So as I mentioned before I wasn’t actually going to be around for this game as I was away at my old Uni seeing old friends for 1 final time before even those in the years below me drift away to all corners of the UK. However the Bisons had just enough players to play away to the Bracknell Blazers and so our BBF League campaign could commence….

Only it didn’t.

In a bizarre turn of events we had to forfeit the game as the league rules have suddenly changed to ban the use of aluminium bats. With no local resource to get hold of the bats in time we were forced to forfeit the game. However to our total disgust, Bracknell refused to even play the game as a friendly match! So sadly after week 1 our record reads.

W0 L1 RS 0 RA 9 GB 1.5

(Full table here http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/show_club.php?club_id=4)

Now that to me is utter BS. I understand that we had to forfeit, its the clubs fault for not realising the rule change sooner, but for the opposition to cry off and refuse to even give a young club such as ourselves some competitive practise?!

Apparently e-mails have been going back and forward between management and lets just say they aren’t exactly cordial ;)

Still I do own a wooden bat so should be fine, and the club is ordering in some from Poland as apparently it’s alot cheaper then importing them from the US, so come our next league game we should be fine.

At this time I think its worth noting another surpise to me as a new baseball player…the cost of being part of a baseball team in financial terms. On a basic level I have to pay £70 for club membership to cover equipment and registration costs etc. On top of that its £10 or so a month for pitch hire and another £7 or so per match for umpires fees. If you add in the £80 for uniforms and money for equipment like bat/glove/batting gloves/cup etc you add on another £150 easily. So therefore the cost to me this season is going to be around £450 or about what…$800? For someone who was recently a student and is about to be so again the prices seem a bit much and if I was a bit less enthusiastic I doubt i’d bother, but as a popular advertisement would say, the pleasure you get from getting on base… Priceless :)

Still onto happier things and what’s more fun then playing baseball? why baseball on your birthday of course! Practise today was a heck of alot of fun as we just played an intra squad game, with 5 on each side (just the infield basically) I was put on 3rd base, another position to learn… but didn’t do much fielding. Still with the bat I did alright, reaching safely twice on two hits and was just out at first on my other AB. Sadly my base running is all over the place still, I haven’t really got the hang of taking a lead or watching the pitchers feet movements but I suppose it will come in time

We have a few new commers as well on the team and I always get mixed emotions. I feel great that we have fresh bodies but always nervous for my place. Even so I guess the competition is a good thing as it helps me to work harder!

Sunday sees another practise as we don’t have a game annoyingly. The way the fixtures are means we seem to have all of our off days at the start of the season! I just want to get stuck in

Thanks again for reading guys and Go Bisons!

As in buffalo or tatanka? I just find it an unusual name for a team from the UK as it was my understanding that they were near-extinction overseas. That is pretty much the same case but bills, buffalo, etc. are still popular mascots. How was the mascot chosen? Vote? Tradition?

Good luck on the season!

i hope baseball can spread in europe

Our last major session before our next league game saw me running around under the burning sun for about 2 hours, but actually feeling good about my fielding for once.

I’m finally getting the hang of the two hands to the ball thing. At first getting the non gloved hand to the ball just seemed unnatural and stupid…I mean where the hell do you put it?! but after a while you realise it keeps your glove steady and gets you more prepared and today it just all seemed to click. IT was one of those great summery days when you feel like you have a magnet in your glove and it just stuck :)

Batting wise was pretty fun as well, using the wood instead of the normal aluminum as I made some solid contact. Unfortunatly we then had to learn to bunt and to me bunting seems 100x harder then just hitting the damn thing. The biggest problem I found was getting my body in the right stance i just didnt know where to have my elbows etc and ity just all felt v unnatural to me

Anyways Im going to keep this brief, Reading have just been relegated and I feel pretty deflated. Say what you want about the Diamondbacks 100+ loss season at least we knew we had another season to prove everyone wrong. Sadly for Reading at best its 18 months until we’re back in the Premiership and even that isn’t certain :( urgh

So the big day finally rolled around and we would face a familiar foe in our opening British Baseball League match, the Guildford Mavericks. Two things made me think we had a pretty good chance going into the match. Number 1 we had owned them several weeks ago and 2 we were all a bit better as players then a month ago. We had all assembled two hours before the game and took quick BP and fielding drills and were also taken through basic signs on when to bunt and when to steal. Our coach told us in his broken english that tapping his cap at any point would be our cue to steal, I just hoped I wouldn’t miss any signs when the game was underway

Stll my confidence qdid waver slightly as the team was announced with more then 1 surprise from our player manager. From a personal standpoint I was happy enough, batting in 8th and in left field, but other then that the team riled more then just me. Several players from last year who have put in sporadic appearances at practise this year were included in the starting lineup including, worryingly, at pitcher.
Don’t get me wrong I know quality doesn’t evaporate because you don’t practice for a few weeks but our starting pitcher hadn’t thrown BP in the last 3 weeks yet alone competitive pitching.

This fact was ALL to apparent as the game got underway as we surrendered 4 runs in the top of the first mostly through walks, truth be told he couldn’t have found the strike zone if it was 6 by 6 foot (but I’ll try and keep my rants to a minimum) They did score a run on a hit though which found its way to me in right field and i proceeded to miss the cut of man as the runner went from second but then again even a direct throw to the cut off man wouldn’t have made a difference and they didn’t stretch the hit into a double so no damage done on my part.

Annoyingly our top 3 hitters then went down in order, just what the doctor didn’t order after being stuck in the field for 25 minutes. To make matters worse the Mavericks then scored 2 more, again sadly more through bad fielding decisions then hitting prowess. Our third baseman had an absolute nightmare of a game with poor handling and throwing to the wrong base when put under pressure his chief crimes. So at 6-0 down you could only hope the rally would start in the bottom of the second…but as you can tell by my tone so far, that just didn’t happen and another 1-2-3 had us back out all to soon.

After our pitcher walked the first two batters in the third he was duly replaced and we managed to get out of the inning only 6 behind thanks largely to a great double play.

I knew I’d be up in the third and after our number 7 hitter slammed a double I was up with a RISP. All of a sudden my nerves returned as I dug in against the pitcher I had faced the last time (the slightly fatter Dan Haren) Thankfully my nerves were soon settled after our runner stole 3rd and I managed to take a 4 pitch walk to become only our 2nd base runner. It was then as I took my lead that I saw our coach tap his hat and at that moment thought…bugger he wants me to steal! Still I duly kept my lead, waited for the pitch and sprinted as fast as I could into 2nd without a throw from the plate…phew.
Unfortunately none of my team mates were able to bring me home but our runner on third scored on a passed ball so we had at least cut the deficit to 5.

Our new pitcher once again kept the opposition off the board in the top of the 4th and we threatened to mount a serious rally in the bottom half of the inning as we scored one run and left 2 on base.

The fifth once again saw us keep the opposition off the board and so we headed into the bottom of the fifth with me leading off. With Older Fatter Dan Haren still on the mound I took ball one low and away before suddenly getting hit on my back trying to get out of the way of the second pitch. Whilst it stung at the time it wasn’t that bad and really part of me was happy to get hit, heck least I got on base ;) (though looking at it now maybe I should have charged the mound ;) ) I was then once again given the sign to steal and somehow made it again without a throw on the first pitch to give me my 2nd steal of the day. Frustratingly (yes I’ve used that word a lot but I really can’t think of much else in my tired state) I was then stranded at second as two strikeout and a fly out ended any threat from myself.

Sadly and somewhat curiously I was then told I was done for the day as our player/manager, all 50 years of him decided he wanted a game and brought himself on for me, despite having practiced all of once this season (but ill stop myself before I rant)_ Still I took it on the chin and went to umpire at 1st base.

In hindsight I really wish I hadn’t as after Guildford had extended their lead to 13-2 by the bottom of the 7th I was involved in a very controversial moment at first when with the bases loaded and 2 out I ruled our hitter out when most of our team assumed him safe. I have to say the call was damn close and instant replay might show me in the wrong but I made the call and had to stand by it. That didn’t stop our manager questioning our call which to be frank disgusted me, I mean come on I would hardly have screwed over my own team. The flak given after that call led me to pass over umpiring duties (not entirely my own decision) and I sat on the sidelines as we mounted a rally which meant that with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth we had the tying run in the on deck circle. Sadly a fly out ended our chances though and we fell 13-10. For the record my friend Steve came on also as I was subbed out and went 0-1 with a walk, but did take a good catch in the outfield.

Ultimately the wildness of our opening pitcher combined with poor defense had cost us the game but I still took a lot out of the game, learning a lot about base running in particular. Once again we now have 3 weeks until our next league game but from that point its a game every week so I’m really looking forward to working on fundamentals in the meantime. I took a few photos of our home ground and I’ll try and get them up soon.

Final Score. Guildford Mavericks 13 Thames Valley Bisons 10 -

DW: LF 0 AB 0 H 0 R BB HBP 2SB

Season
DW: 4AB 3H 2R 2RBI 2BB HBP .750 2SB

(Do HBP count as a BB in the box score out of interest?)

Thanks for reading again, keep checking the website for any little bits of news and also the British Baseball website, www.baseballsoftballuk.com as that has a record of all of our results and fixtures etc :)

Thought I’d post the table. We’re the in the A division, with AA and AAA above us and then the National League. Looking at the table Im not looking forward to taking on Croydon if they are averaging 22 runs per game! Also it seems to be their 3rd team so lord knows how good the other 2 are but looking at their teams website ( http://www.croydonpirates.co.uk ) they seem pretty good, they even go on tours to Holland If only we could afford such fun :(

Standings W L F A

Group A

Croydon Pirates III 3 0 66 27
Bracknell Blazers II 2 1 25 27
Southampton Colts 1 1 48 34
Guildford Mavericks 1 3 49 88
Thames Valley Bisons 0 2 10 22 (Note we had to forfiet the game with Bracknell so lost 9-0 by default)

Group B

Old Timers 3 0 94 35
Braintree Rays 1 1 38 37 .
Herts Raptors 1 2 54 64
Essex Arrows 2 1 3 58

Rain rain go away, come again another day

No less then 3 scheduled practises have been lost to the weather since we lost to Guildford 2 weeks ago and sadly In that time i’ve hardly picked up a bat or a ball other then to clean out my car.

Thankfully we had good weather this Sunday and so we could actually practise on our freshly cut field. Sadly turnout was low, we only had 8 guys there due to holidays/work commitments/hangovers but those who did turn up certainly got their work in.

We started with fielding drills as usual and this time I was placed in centre field with one of our even newer players over in left, and no right fielder. This meant that I had to go for or cover every single ball and after about 25-30 balls I was utterly shattered. Honestly I’d never before realised how much running and ground you had to cover as a centre fielder. What I also realised at this point is just how god damn unfit I am for a 22 year old, which is frustrating to say the least (damn you KFC!) As for the fielding itself, well I was ok I caught maybe 3 in 4? but what frustrated me the most was my continuing lack of throwing skills. Even 3 months In my throws still loop into the air and take an age to reach the cut off man (if they reach him at all) The coach has tried to get me to relax a bit more and take my time but its just dissapointing to be seemingly going sideways all the time rather then forward.

In the bigger picture what’s most annoying is that based on batting alone I’d put myself easily in the starting 9 but if you take into account my lack of skills in the field I’m soon going to be struggling, especially as 3 new players all with previous experience and good arms have joined recently. I guess I shouldn’t worry about how others play but it does creep into your mind, which is bad as it makes you try too hard which then gets you frustrated (well it gets me wound up anyway!)

Still, back on the field I batted alright, sadly I was first up for BP and had to face arguably our best pitcher who is a guy who takes a while to get in rythmn aka I didn’t get alot of strikes to hit.

We face Southampton next week at home and I’ll hopefully be involved but the Download Music Festival means I’ll miss our home game with Bracknell 2 weeks from now. In other news whilst this isn’t myspace central or a padres blog ;) I’ve got an album on my facebook with all of the bisons pics so far so anybody who wants to add me is welcome, Daniel Wimbush is the name. I’ll still try and upload some to imageshack but im having some problems in that area :(

Cheers for the support as always guys

I enjoyed this more than you know. Partly because your circumstances and surroundings evoke an earlier time here in the states, and by that I dont mean the Little League of my youth as much as the 19th century origins of the American game itself : the club structure, fussy league rulings, hard to find equipment, players umpiring and so on.

In addition to doing something fun, you’ve opened up a window for some of us. Here, we consume a Disneyfied version of an increasingly distant professional game, driven by the commercialization of gossip, statistics, etc.

Yours is a halcyon place, closer to the heart of this great game. That heart can be summed up in one word:

Play.

Thanks and congratulations.

When I first signed up to play for the Bisons I knew I’d have to completely learn the game of baseball, I knew it would be a long grind and that there would be ups and downs, but never did I imagine myself swinging at shuttlecocks at 9pm at night….

At the same time as the Diamondbacks were struggling to try and hit a baseball, I was at Bishopswood having shuttlecocks thrown at me in an excersise designed to improve my swing. So there I was swinging away and I have to say I didn’t see the point in the excersise, I mean the throws coming from my partner were so random it was impossible not to be kept off balance.

But that wasn’t the end of the night, Oh no we had to take swings into a rug which was placed against the backstop. This was a little more productive (when the ball was thrown at the right height) Then finally we had proper BP which is always the highlight of the night.

The size of the team continues to grow and 2 new people turned up last nig