Introduction: I have decided to write a post on what types of questions I frequently get asked about baseball. This post will answer questions in terms of how I think when a game is currently being played and give you all an "inside look" on what I look for from the players. Some questions could have a simple answer, while others may be a little more drawn out and be more specific. This post I hope will help guide anyone in the right direction if they want to pursue the game of baseball in terms of wanting to watch and research more of it. All answers are obviously coming from myself and no one else.
Question 1: Why do you love baseball?
Answer: Baseball has been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. I love watching baseball, hearing the unique sounds of the game, seeing the players perform, and constantly be learning more about the players. I can never get enough baseball in my life, it is crazy!
Question 2: How do you go about knowing and memorizing the players?
Answer: Personally I do not memorize jersey numbers, in fact I hardly know any jersey numbers. Instead I memorize and study individual players and their movements, for example: their facial features, how they walk and run, release the ball, their batting stance, their swing, where they hit in the lineup, where they play in the field, and small changes they make to themselves, basically all the small details of the individual player is what I am looking for. This is probably a weird method to memorize players, but over time I have gotten used to it and it has really helped me get to know the players. A few examples of this would be: Jacob deGrom recently switched to a Rawlings glove, he originally had a Nike glove with an orange and blue Nike swoosh on the black leather, Aaron Judge usually hits second in the Yankees lineup, Dylan Carlson and Francisco Lindor are switch-hitters, and Pablo Lopez seems to always have a small mustache, but then he shaves it usually by his next few starts. I hope I have answered this question in a way that is not confusing.
Question 3: What is the best way to start memorizing players, as well as their stats?
Answer: There is no best way to memorize players and their statistics, but the way I do it is by reading baseball almanacs. I get the Baseball America almanac every year and enjoy flipping through the pages. Personally I am a very visual learner, so once I see something in my almanac I usually try to memorize it as quickly as possible. Memorizing the stats is a whole different story because baseball changes everyday. For me it is impossible to memorize stats on a daily basis, but if I am somewhat close to whatever the stat is, reading the almanac or site has come in handy. Online baseball quizzes such as " The Top 100 Players Entering the 2021 Season" helps expand an individuals knowledge rather quickly as well. Usually getting a wrong answer or not being able to think of the player's name will make you never forget the name again. Baseball sites are of course another useful resource to use if you do not want to buy the almanacs.
Question 4: How much baseball do you watch on a daily basis and how do you watch it?
Answer: All the "action" goes down in my basement, in the living area with me sitting on my couch, that is it.... not much "action" to it. I usually have the Cardinals game on my TV while also having my computer up to check scores. I watch and track baseball games for a couple of hours a day, it really depends on the day and who is pitching or if there is a big game that day. For instance if deGrom is pitching and the game is not on TV, I sit in front of my computer the whole game, only getting up for snacks or bathroom breaks when the Mets are hitting and "watch" him that way.
I do not have MLB Network which may surprise people, but I "track" the games on my computer. Using the official MLB site, I can easily go from game to game by checking scores on the MLB scoreboard. What I look for first is how all my fantasy players as well as my opponent's players are doing in my leagues that I am in. Memorizing every player that I own in each league really helps, this eliminates me from having to go to each of my team's pages and seeing who I have started for the given week or day. I usually memorize the key pitchers who are starting that day the night before. The only pitchers I see who pitch in several days, are Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, the fantasy opponent's pitchers I play for the given week, and of course my fantasy pitchers to plan ahead for the next week in case of a two-start week which is very valuable. It is always interesting going through each matchup and seeing who is going to go up against whoever the other pitcher is. On the right hand side of the "Gameday" screen when games are going on, lineups for each team are posted and players names are bolded when they are batting. Pitch counts have always interested me, so being able to see how many pitches a pitcher has thrown through a certain inning or innings is a must. The virtual box score will also tell if a pitcher has thrown a wild pitch or if a player has committed an error, basically any small thing like that. The feature also includes a strike zone to see where pitchers have thrown their pitches during every at-bat including the pitch type and how fast they pitched it. When a player drives in a run or puts the ball in play it will say something like "in play run(s)", "in play out(s), or "in play, no out." This will get my heart pumping when one of my fantasy players are either pitching or hitting, but I have gotten used to the feeling over these last few years.
Question 5: (The most frequent statement and question I hear and get asked.) "Adam, you know everything about baseball". "How do you know everything"?
Answer: My response is something similar to this: "I appreciate you thinking of me as some sort of "baseball genius", but I am just a kid who loves watching baseball all the time and I am nowhere close to what you just referred to me as." People who call me a "baseball genius" or something similar, is something I do not like because I am nowhere close to that standard and never will be. This in turn puts pressure on me to know the answer to every baseball question if they were to ask one. Knowing everything about baseball is something I will NEVER EVER come close to, I only know a very, very small portion of the sport. During my high school years, kids would come up to me randomly in the halls and ask me a question or questions. I guess word spread that I was the kid who knew everything about baseball, which is a complete lie and the biggest lie I have ever heard in my life. As they rattled off their question, this same question always went through my mind: Why are you asking a kid when you could search the question on the internet? Once I answered the question, (if I were able to answer it that is), they would freak out and be completely shocked. They never seemed to realize that they could have known the answer themselves if they actually did the research, it honestly is not that hard. The fact that people say I am a baseball genius when they could easily know more than what little I do about the sport if they put in the time is something I will never understand.
Question 6: What is the best way to get into baseball if I am new and am wanting to learn more about it?
Answer: Depending on your age, collecting baseball cards is a great way for a young kid or anyone for that matter to get familiar with the players and the game itself, as well as the video game MLB The Show. Personally fantasy baseball is how I got into the game more. I have played in fantasy baseball leagues with all "adults" since 2016 and I have been able to expand my knowledge at a quicker rate than if I would have just watched baseball games by themselves. The fantasy game forces you to know the players by coming up with your own draft strategy, making daily or weekly lineup changes, adding and dropping players throughout the season, making trades, and having fun all at the same time with your friends. I take the game quite seriously and think about it constantly, do not be like me in that regard or it will consume your life if you let it, trust me.
Question 7: Do I have to watch baseball everyday to get more familiar with it?
Answer: I would to some capacity if you are new to the game and are just getting into wanting to research all the players, it will give you more knowledge of the overall sport. This is where time management plays a huge part because if you really want to learn more about it you have to make time and make it a priority to constantly watch or research it on a daily basis. Hopefully you will get to the point to where you are familiar with the players well enough to know how they are going to perform based on their individual trends and performance. Seeing their career numbers are also key, this tells what numbers they are capable of.
Question 8: How do you know which players are good and which ones are bad?
Answer: First off if you have made it to the Major Leagues you are not bad, but I get what this question is asking. This is a tough question to answer because it solely comes down to a combination of your personal opinion and watching and researching players over and over again, it is as simple as that.
Question 9: How much should I know about baseball?
Answer: This comes down to you and how much you want to know about the players and sport as a whole. I take baseball very seriously, so I like to be familiar with every player on every team (or at least try to be), including the top prospects in the minor leagues. Everybody is different and that is what makes baseball so fun in that we are all constantly learning, nobody is going to know everything, it is virtually impossible.
Question 10: How do you decide what to write on and how do you come up with all of this stuff?
Answer: My grandpa will usually ask me these questions after I put out a new blog post. Writing about baseball is fun for me, because I seem to be around it all the time and I do not have to make up any characters or a story. The players are my characters and how they perform in real life is the story that I try to put together at the best of my ability from my view point. Different baseball topics are always going through my head. Sometimes I will make a bunch of drafts just to get my ideas down. Some of my ideas that I think of I may not even use and they go into the trash bin. Truly, I believe this is a gift from God that He gave me to use for His glory.
Final Thoughts: I hope this post has given you all a closer look into how I think when a baseball game is currently being played. The main takeaway from this post is to watch games and research players on a regular basis, by doing this you will know more about baseball in no time. I look forward to posting again soon!
See you at the Ballpark!!!
Adam
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