As an athlete (or at least having been an athlete in the past) and a sports fan, one of the difficult things about finding myself on an extended stay in Shanghai, China (setting up sporting goods manufacturing and other business contacts) is the near isolation from most American sports. Although basketball, over the past ten or so years, has become popular among the Chinese people, baseball has yet to find its way into the sports culture here. While at every school or playground it’s likely you’ll find some kid aspiring to become the next Yao Ming, mention the term “baseball” to most Chinese, even ones who speak pretty good English, and you’ll likely find yourself having to search through a phrasebook to find the Chinese phrase for baseball: “bangqiu” (pronounced bong chi-o).

I had heard from some of the expatriates living in Shanghai that there was some sort of baseball team playing in the city, so I did some Google searches to see whether I could find information about the team. I found a few articles on the Internet about the Shanghai Eagles’ spring trip to the U.S. to compete against junior college teams. The game summaries, published by the news people at a few of the U.S. schools against which the Eagles played, described a team that had decent pitching, but not much hitting. As can happen with that kind of team chemistry, the Shanghai club lost all seven of its exhibition games in the U.S.

I didn’t expect much when I went to watch the team play, but I was excited to actually see a baseball field again, having been in China for awhile, and I wanted to experience the baseball environment here. A Chinese friend of mine hunted down information about where the Shanghai Eagles played and at what time, so I took my wife out for a Friday afternoon at the baseball field.

The old ball game didn’t have any peanuts or Cracker-Jacks, or hot dogs, or drinks, or very many spectators. There was a mascot dressed in a chicken suit, and, although we had to search behind some buildings to find it, surprisingly the field looked pretty standard. There was a total of probably fifty people in attendance when the game began. People came and went as the game progressed. Something that struck me was the feeling that many there were obviously hard-core baseball fans, the kind you would expect to find catching foul balls at a MLB park. After quickly being spotted as one of the only white guys in attendance, I was approached by Dan Washburn, a news consultant doing a story for Baseball America. During my conversation with him, he told me that he met some older Chinese men at one of the games he’d attended. He mentioned that when he asked them what brought them out to the event, they told him they played ball when they were much younger, being forced to leave the game behind when Mao Zedong did away with the American influence during the Cultural Revolution. As for the group of boisterous, college-aged enthusiasts, I was told that a group of them attended the local baseball college, and they were being trained to later become professionals. (In China, many children who express a particular athletic skill are guided down a specialized path devoted largely to the ultimate fulfillment of their athletic capabilities.) There were some younger T-ball aged kids at the game who were introduced to me by the uncle of one of the boys. He wanted them to practice English with me and my wife, and later the two boys asked me to play catch with them using the homemade-looking, well-used baseball one of the boys brought to the game.

The area we used to play catch was the same grass area outside the stadium used by the professional teams to warm up their bullpen pitchers. I used the opportunity to get a feel for how well a professional pitcher in China throws. The one I saw was probably throwing in the high-70’s to low 80’s. I watched him throw curve balls with some good movement and change ups as well. His control was comparable to an average to good college pitcher.

The particular game we watched went into extra innings as the Eagles dropped a large lead late in the game. Being distracted by people attempting to practice English during the tenth and eleventh innings, it wasn’t until the twelfth that I noticed a strange twist to baseball as the Chinese play it. Probably for the sake of ending the game as soon as possible, they allow both teams to start extra innings with a runner on second base. One problem I saw with this approach is that it made the game boring, as the apparent lack of confidence in hitting on the part of both teams turned the extra innings into a bunt-fest. Finally Tianjin broke open and went on to win 9-5 in 12 innings.

During the game, I met some college baseball players who had become interested in baseball when they came to college. They don’t attend the designated baseball college, so their educational involvement baseball is only extra-curricular. They invited me to play with them, and I have participated in some of their practices and scrimmages.

On a Wednesday afternoon in May I followed the directions given to me to meet the team at the Shanghai Teacher’s University on Guilin Road. The field where the team practiced wasn’t actually a baseball field. It was a general-purpose field used mainly for soccer and track exercises. I have quickly come to understand that the space limitations in Shanghai, similar to most parts of China, make it so that facilities have to double up on their usage. It was amusing to me to watch as we set up for a scrimmage. The areas where right and center field should be was filled with a mix of people, including a few of our people playing those positions, and soccer players who were not in the least interested in what we were doing, especially since they were fully engaged in their own game. As fly balls dropped among them, some of the soccer players would pick the balls up and toss them back, while others would, with a demonstration of irritation, kick them out of the way. Fortunately for the soccer players, none of them were hit.

Many of the baseball players were not so lucky. A healthy fear of hard baseballs traveling at high speeds seems to be second nature for most Americans, as if we are born with an understanding that if a ball is fouled off into someone’s face, it’s going to hurt like heck at best. Although most of them didn’t understand what I was saying, I attempted many times to tell those watching the action to back away from the batter and catcher. During one ten-minute interval, I saw three people get hit hard in the face or head by baseballs. Throughout the whole practice there were constant near-misses as well.

On-deck hitters kept with the Chinese custom for preserving one’s place in line by crowding behind the person in front. That approach is okay for the local McDonald’s. In fact, if you don’t push your way up in line, you will find yourself standing in the same place for a long time, with person after person jumping in front of you. However, when the person at the front of the line is swinging a bat, a different set of rules should apply.

During the first practice with the college players, I was invited to pitch to the team as they scrimmaged. It soon became apparent that there were various skill levels represented at the plate. I was reminded of something I saw in Little League (where kids are usually just beginning to learn how to react to balls thrown towards them) when a particularly nervous batter accidentally stepped in front of the plate, opening up towards the ball so that it hit him directly in the stomach. Fortunately I was only throwing about 70 mph, so no major damage was done, except that the player was likely quickly cured of any interest he had in the new American sport. After that incident the other players warned me when I was pitching to someone who was new, so I could slow it down enough for them to take some solid cuts.

In a country where the sport hasn’t really caught on yet, it amazes me that these players respond so well to the difficulties of learning baseball. It is obvious that many of these people, girls and guys alike, have developed a love and even a passion for the game. Before their season started in June, they practiced on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Most practice sessions last five hours or longer. During the time I have participated with them, I have seen their skills improve, with arm strength increasing and fielding and batting capabilities doing the same.

So when the Olympics come to Beijing in 2008, what can we expect from the Chinese team? Will it be somewhat of an embarrassment, like the Greek team’s performance in 2004? Or will the home team have a chance to compete? My personal opinion is that the competition level doesn’t exist in China now for the national team to compete with the likes of Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., or Cuba. However, if they can get enough exposure by playing outside of China, they might just pull off a medal. As for the long-term outlook on baseball in China, comments made by someone who has more experience with the system, as an investor and active baseball supporter in China, give a pretty good take on the subject. When I mentioned to him that I was considering opening a baseball retail store or batting cage in Shanghai, one of the founders of the CBL told me that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I didn’t mind starving for a couple of years. A few years from now however, he said, a much different scenario is likely to exist, with baseball possibly becoming what it is in Taiwan.

[This article, written by Richard Robbins, was originally published online at http://www.robbinssports.com/articles.]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Baseball is at 150 years old, one of the most popular spectator sports in the United States. How have such conditions like technology, economic resources, a need for higher standards for safety and protection, make the basic baseball gear better?

Lets first define: what is the typical or basic baseball gear?

The first is the basic baseball. In the past baseballs were single pieces of hand stitched, stuffed leather. Todays modern version baseball is the modern hardballs, which are technologically made to exact specifications.

Another old baseball gear is the bat. Bats today are more precisely carved and crafted from different materials: woods such as ash, maple, metal like aluminum, and even bamboo. No longer is this basic baseball gear made from tree limbs and wagon tongues.

Even the simple fielders glove, another baseball gear basic, has undergone changes. Today there is now a wider selection. There are even gloves made for women fielders! You can pick buffalo leather or the “Full-Grain” leather which is made out of cow hide leather on which the entire natural grain remains. For new players or occasional baseball players, fielders gloves made out of pigskin will do. While it is less durable compared to cowhide, it is more flexible.

All other baseball gear stalwarts such as the helmet, sneakers to the outfits of the baseball players, have benefited from technological advances. For instance, the materials used to make sneakers and uniforms are now stretchable synthetic-blend materials. These materials are more functional and protective.

These sound technological advances have indeed made a big difference, in the making more durable, sturdier and comfortable baseball gear. Making it possible for baseball to be enjoyed by the spectators and players in safety and fun!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Baseball Fielding Drills: Bucket Ball
By: Dave Cole

Bucket Ball

Bucket Ball is a fun fielding drill that not only gives the kids
a lot of practice catching ground balls, but also keeps them
interested and motivated.

Choose two captains, then let them pick up sides from your team.

You’ll need two empty 5 gallon buckets or two milk crates.

Place one bucket on the ground a couple of feet down the first
base line from home plate, and the other down the third base
line.

One group of kids goes to first base, the other to third base.

Rules are:

* You must catch the ball before you can throw it back.
* The ball must be thrown in the bucket on 2 to 4 hops.
* No throwing directly into the bucket on the fly.
* No bowling, or rolling the ball on the ground to the bucket.
* First team to get 5 in a bucket wins the first round.
* Then groups switch bases for the second round.
* No running in to throw, the throw is made from first or third
base.

We sometimes have it so the person with the most thrown in the
bucket gets to hit first in practice. You can think up other
ways of rewarding the most catches or throws.

It’s a bit harder to get the balls in the bucket than you might
imagine. The kids have a lot of fun cheering each other on and
they learn focus on catching the ball and throwing at a target.

It goes a lot faster if you have two coaches hitting the balls.

In about 15 minutes each kid can get a lot of grounders and no
one gets bored standing around because this is a fast moving
game.

About the author:
Dave Cole
Copyright

You can have more really cool baseball drills and info about
all aspects of the Great Game of Baseball, plus other sports,
by visiting our site:

http://ponyball.net/baseball-drills-strategy.html

>

Ash is called a ring porous hardwood because early in the growing period the tree makes big cells. Then later on the cells become much smaller and denser. The zone of big cells each year is in reality the weakest portion of the wood–large cells mean a lot of void space and poor strength. (Oak is also a ring porous wood.) Well, if you develop the ash too slowly, then there can be a larger proportion of large vessels, which means the wood can be weaker; too fast means too weighty as there will be too many dense, small cells. So, it is critical to find the right growth rate that maximizes the properties of the wood.

Bat selections change from competitor to competitor. It does not always depend on your power or particular muscle mass to figure which kind of bat is going to improve your performance at the plate.

Northern white ash baseball bats are the most well-received baseball bats because they are not as weighty as the popular maple wood counter parts. While maple is touted as having greater durability and longevity, northern white ash baseball bats are more cost effective.

The implement being only as good as its user, your northern white ash baseball bat will dispatch equally as long as the esteemed maple wood bats if you focus on the basics of what it takes to be a good hitter. Pro players will boast that they are able to get as many as 2000 hits off of one bat, and it would not be a northern white ash baseball bat.

It is feasible to accomplish the same endurance with a northern white ash baseball bat by not swinging at poor pitches. Foul balls are hitting a part of the bat that sends a wave of energy like an earth rocking tremor down the to the end of the bat, circling through the knob, and racing right back up.

All that activity is jarring the outer circle of the bat, not to cite how you as the hitter can sometimes even sense that uneven power come reeling up through your own nervous systems ganglia like a shocker. Your bat deserves better choices being made. As a hitter, you understand if you have to reach out for that pitch, it is likely to go out of control.

Each time your bat gets the g-force of a pitch outside its ideal center point for hitting, it is receiving a fissure splitting damaging wound. Northern white ash baseball bats will give you as much fulfilment and achievement on the field as any around, just be sure to make sound decisions before you swing!

Wood bats are typically made of Northern White ash, or Rock Maple. These woods are used because they are very powerful, yet they are also fairly light. Ash is still probably the most common wood, but rock maple is becoming more and more accepted because of its durability. some may dispute maple provides a little more pop. Selecting a good piece of wood is important to durability and to how well the ball jumps off of the bat.

About the Author

William Smith lives in Florida with his wife and three cats. William writes frequently on many subjects that may be of interest to all. Discover all the joys and secrets of baseball at Baseball’s Holy Grail

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Worth - The original aluminum baseball bats were made by Worth in the early 1970’s. The company is still recognized for the high quality Worth bats they manufacture for little league, baseball and softball

Purchasing the correct baseball bats for kids is as consequential as the right glove, the cleats, and every other piece of equipment for the pastime. The correct bat can directly affect how your kids execute at the plate, and conversely, the incorrect bat can leave your kids struggling on the peewee team.

Regardless, ask someone how to buy the Finest bat for your kids, and you’ll get the rigamarole. Some people will say buy weighty and let your kid adjust for greater power. Others will say buy extended and let your kids choke up on the grip so they can handle the additional few inches. Others will say pray to Jobu and dream he delivers the proper bat to you.

Just like he didn’t cut it for Charlie Sheen and the boys in the hit film Major League, Jobu won’t help if you’re looking to purchase bats for kids. The key is taking in all of the suggestion from experts, and looking for consistency. In this instance, the chorus of voices says one thing: both length and weight are important.

With weight, think light. A light bat makes it easier for your kids to command their swings. Don’t let those old-fashioned coaching types recite you that you require a weighty bat to deliver the hits. Kids can actually hit the ball harder and farther with a light bat because they can swing a light bat faster. If you need evidence, contemplate that the NCAA and high school rules officials have passed prohibitions on baseball bats so they cannot be 3 ounces or more lighter than the bat’s length in inches.

When it comes to length and bats for kids, the rules state that Little League baseball bats must be less than or equal to 32 inches in length. Their barrels cannot be more than 2.25 inches in diameter. Of course, for kids in the ‘Farm’ league (age 7 to you don’t want to push these limits. A length of 26 to 27 inches will do.

For the Junior Minors (age 8 to 9), try 27 to 29 inches. For Senior Minors (age 9 to 12), try 28 to 31 inches. And for the Majors (age 10 to 12), you can buy a bat anywhere from 29 to 32 inches.

Rawlings Bats - Most well known for their quality baseball gloves, Rawlings today is among the leaders in bats, making professional wood bats as well as quality aluminum baseball bats used throughout NCAA and high school baseball.

About the Author

William Smith lives in Florida with his wife and three cats. William writes frequently on many subjects that may be of interest to all. Discover all the joys and secrets of baseball at Baseball’s Holy Grail

>

Aluminum baseball bats are Usually preferred to wooden bats due to their light weight and high power (note: pro players are allowed to use wood bats only). Lighter bats are usually preferable to heavier bats as they allow the hitter to create sufficient speed to put some “oomph” into it (although there are restrictions about bat weights at most levels). Additionally, aluminum bats can supply more “pop” of the baseball off the bat, and are much more stable (therefore cost effective) than wooden bats. Bats today are becoming increasingly high tech and costly

College baseball bats are more high-tech than the bats that the pros use. The pros, you see, are behind the times with their baseball bats. Their wood relics have been out of style for years. Wood makes for baseball bats that are heavier, less long lasting, and less functional than their counterparts made from aluminum.

Today’s best baseball bats are to be found in the college ranks. They’re made of military grade aluminum provided by corporations like Alcoa and Kaiser. And these companies keep working on this aircraft aluminum to make it stronger, thinner, lighter, and more stable.

These aluminum alloys go by their corporate trade names or numbers, and customarily by brand names too. You can sometimes find that the same trade name is marketed by different bat makers by unlike brand names.

If you want to see if your college baseball bats are made from one of these advanced alloys, simply look at the bat. Customarily, manufacturers are so proud of the fact that they’ll advertise it in big bold letters on the bat. Then again, if you’re bat is -11 or lighter, it is required by law not to state what kind of alloy is used in its assembly. In any case, these lighter bats probably do not contain the stronger newer alloys. To make weight, the producer possibly used a lighter alloy for the thinner walls of the bat.

If you want to be able to know accurately what is in your college baseball bats, look for the grade number on them. For instance, a grade number of 7046 means that the bat is fabricated with standard aircraft aluminum, a material fit for many budget bats.

The grade 7050 means the aluminum alloy contains an amount of copper, which makes it one-third stronger than 7046. Other numbers and grades, of course, designate other alloy blends and dissimilar strengths.

Baseball bats are measured using their length to weight ratio, a negative number that represents how many ounces a bat weighs compared to it’s length in inches. For example, a 32 inch bat that weighs 28 ounces is a - 4. The largest ratio is in the range of -12 (for little league bats), while college and high school bats are restricted to a - 3. These restrictions are for safety reasons - a college or high school player swinging a very light bat (- 4 +) would simply have too much power and could pose a danger to other players on the field. Make sure to check the regulations of your league before buying a baseball bat!

About the Author

William Smith lives in Florida with his wife and three cats. William writes frequently on many subjects that may be of interest to all. Discover all the joys and secrets of baseball at Baseball’s Holy Grail

>

Worth - The original aluminum baseball bats were made by Worth in the early 1970’s. The company is still recognized for the high quality Worth bats they manufacture for little league, baseball and softball

Purchasing the correct baseball bats for kids is as consequential as the right glove, the cleats, and every other piece of equipment for the pastime. The correct bat can directly affect how your kids execute at the plate, and conversely, the incorrect bat can leave your kids struggling on the peewee team.

Regardless, ask someone how to buy the Finest bat for your kids, and you’ll get the rigamarole. Some people will say buy weighty and let your kid adjust for greater power. Others will say buy extended and let your kids choke up on the grip so they can handle the additional few inches. Others will say pray to Jobu and dream he delivers the proper bat to you.

Just like he didn’t cut it for Charlie Sheen and the boys in the hit film Major League, Jobu won’t help if you’re looking to purchase bats for kids. The key is taking in all of the suggestion from experts, and looking for consistency. In this instance, the chorus of voices says one thing: both length and weight are important.

With weight, think light. A light bat makes it easier for your kids to command their swings. Don’t let those old-fashioned coaching types recite you that you require a weighty bat to deliver the hits. Kids can actually hit the ball harder and farther with a light bat because they can swing a light bat faster. If you need evidence, contemplate that the NCAA and high school rules officials have passed prohibitions on baseball bats so they cannot be 3 ounces or more lighter than the bat’s length in inches.

When it comes to length and bats for kids, the rules state that Little League baseball bats must be less than or equal to 32 inches in length. Their barrels cannot be more than 2.25 inches in diameter. Of course, for kids in the ‘Farm’ league (age 7 to you don’t want to push these limits. A length of 26 to 27 inches will do.

For the Junior Minors (age 8 to 9), try 27 to 29 inches. For Senior Minors (age 9 to 12), try 28 to 31 inches. And for the Majors (age 10 to 12), you can buy a bat anywhere from 29 to 32 inches.

Rawlings Bats - Most well known for their quality baseball gloves, Rawlings today is among the leaders in bats, making professional wood bats as well as quality aluminum baseball bats used throughout NCAA and high school baseball.

About the Author

William Smith lives in Florida with his wife and three cats. William writes frequently on many subjects that may be of interest to all. Discover all the joys and secrets of baseball at Baseball’s Holy Grail

Does your business struggle with profitable online marketing? If so, you are not alone. Attracting the right customers to a site and keeping them coming back - while also turning a profit - can be a challenge. Consequently, I’m always on the lookout for ways to demonstrate profitable online strategies.

Last night, as I watched the Baseball All Star Home Run Derby and visited Major League Baseball’s Web site, it struck me. The league is doing many things to effectively find and attract targeted Web customers, while simultaneously generating revenue.

In fact, I noticed numerous lessons from Major League Baseball you can consider to profitably target your own customers. Here are six of them:

Think Through Your Business Models

Free information and activities are present, but well thought out, revenue generating business models are also evident.

Lesson 1: Make your profit generators stand out.

MLB.com has a separate, prominent navigation menu for profit producing activities - MLB Shop, Tickets, Auctions, Subscriptions - which appears in the upper right on all pages, where potential paying customers cannot miss it.

Importantly, each corresponding area of the site is narrowly focused on the visitors’ interests. For example, the shop sells baseball - and only baseball - items. This is readily apparent from the slogan “For all things baseball”.

Lesson 2: Sell subscriptions.

The league generates revenue from a variety of event subscriptions - live video broadcasts, live audio broadcasts, archived clips, and fantasy games. This also help open the door for repeat purchases and add-ons.

Lesson 3: Include advertisements.

Pop-ups and other online advertising are a fact of life on free-to-user sites. Major League Baseball demonstrates taste and intelligent implementation with their pop-under, limiting each visitor to a single impression. Banner advertisements and sponsorships are also apparent.

Develop Profit Pulling Marketing Techniques

Lesson 4: Segment your visitors.

The league uses a “hub and spoke” system, which allows visitors to choose their own interests. There is one general site (MLB.com), with links to several specialty sites (stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com, etc.).

This portal approach helps segment visitors into specific interest groups. It is a win-win strategy. Visitors find what they are looking for and the league can more easily target its marketing activities.

Lesson 5: Target locally.

Each “spoke” off the MLB hub contains local content, which segments visitors regionally. The league targets products and services accordingly.

For example, the Cardinals team site includes detailed information for Cardinals baseball events, ticket purchasing for Busch stadium games, and auctions for St. Louis related baseball memorabilia.

Lesson 6: Offer tiered products.

MLB offers subscription services at many levels. By packaging fantasy games into progressively larger bundles, they encourage trial as well as repeat visits. The offering also target customers according to interest level and budget.

There you have it - five lessons in profitable target marketing from Major League Baseball.

Copyright 2003 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.

Bobette Kyle draws upon 10+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, MBA, and online marketing research in her writing.

Her book shows how to better find, target, and attract Web customers. Read about it here: http://WebSiteMarketingPlan.com/bookinfo.htm

As an athlete (or at least having been an athlete in the past) and a sports fan, one of the difficult things about finding myself on an extended stay in Shanghai, China (setting up sporting goods manufacturing and other business contacts) is the near isolation from most American sports. Although basketball, over the past ten or so years, has become popular among the Chinese people, baseball has yet to find its way into the sports culture here. While at every school or playground it’s likely you’ll find some kid aspiring to become the next Yao Ming, mention the term “baseball” to most Chinese, even ones who speak pretty good English, and you’ll likely find yourself having to search through a phrasebook to find the Chinese phrase for baseball: “bangqiu” (pronounced bong chi-o).

I had heard from some of the expatriates living in Shanghai that there was some sort of baseball team playing in the city, so I did some Google searches to see whether I could find information about the team. I found a few articles on the Internet about the Shanghai Eagles’ spring trip to the U.S. to compete against junior college teams. The game summaries, published by the news people at a few of the U.S. schools against which the Eagles played, described a team that had decent pitching, but not much hitting. As can happen with that kind of team chemistry, the Shanghai club lost all seven of its exhibition games in the U.S.

I didn’t expect much when I went to watch the team play, but I was excited to actually see a baseball field again, having been in China for awhile, and I wanted to experience the baseball environment here. A Chinese friend of mine hunted down information about where the Shanghai Eagles played and at what time, so I took my wife out for a Friday afternoon at the baseball field.

The old ball game didn’t have any peanuts or Cracker-Jacks, or hot dogs, or drinks, or very many spectators. There was a mascot dressed in a chicken suit, and, although we had to search behind some buildings to find it, surprisingly the field looked pretty standard. There was a total of probably fifty people in attendance when the game began. People came and went as the game progressed. Something that struck me was the feeling that many there were obviously hard-core baseball fans, the kind you would expect to find catching foul balls at a MLB park. After quickly being spotted as one of the only white guys in attendance, I was approached by Dan Washburn, a news consultant doing a story for Baseball America. During my conversation with him, he told me that he met some older Chinese men at one of the games he’d attended. He mentioned that when he asked them what brought them out to the event, they told him they played ball when they were much younger, being forced to leave the game behind when Mao Zedong did away with the American influence during the Cultural Revolution. As for the group of boisterous, college-aged enthusiasts, I was told that a group of them attended the local baseball college, and they were being trained to later become professionals. (In China, many children who express a particular athletic skill are guided down a specialized path devoted largely to the ultimate fulfillment of their athletic capabilities.) There were some younger T-ball aged kids at the game who were introduced to me by the uncle of one of the boys. He wanted them to practice English with me and my wife, and later the two boys asked me to play catch with them using the homemade-looking, well-used baseball one of the boys brought to the game.

The area we used to play catch was the same grass area outside the stadium used by the professional teams to warm up their bullpen pitchers. I used the opportunity to get a feel for how well a professional pitcher in China throws. The one I saw was probably throwing in the high-70’s to low 80’s. I watched him throw curve balls with some good movement and change ups as well. His control was comparable to an average to good college pitcher.

The particular game we watched went into extra innings as the Eagles dropped a large lead late in the game. Being distracted by people attempting to practice English during the tenth and eleventh innings, it wasn’t until the twelfth that I noticed a strange twist to baseball as the Chinese play it. Probably for the sake of ending the game as soon as possible, they allow both teams to start extra innings with a runner on second base. One problem I saw with this approach is that it made the game boring, as the apparent lack of confidence in hitting on the part of both teams turned the extra innings into a bunt-fest. Finally Tianjin broke open and went on to win 9-5 in 12 innings.

During the game, I met some college baseball players who had become interested in baseball when they came to college. They don’t attend the designated baseball college, so their educational involvement baseball is only extra-curricular. They invited me to play with them, and I have participated in some of their practices and scrimmages.

On a Wednesday afternoon in May I followed the directions given to me to meet the team at the Shanghai Teacher’s University on Guilin Road. The field where the team practiced wasn’t actually a baseball field. It was a general-purpose field used mainly for soccer and track exercises. I have quickly come to understand that the space limitations in Shanghai, similar to most parts of China, make it so that facilities have to double up on their usage. It was amusing to me to watch as we set up for a scrimmage. The areas where right and center field should be was filled with a mix of people, including a few of our people playing those positions, and soccer players who were not in the least interested in what we were doing, especially since they were fully engaged in their own game. As fly balls dropped among them, some of the soccer players would pick the balls up and toss them back, while others would, with a demonstration of irritation, kick them out of the way. Fortunately for the soccer players, none of them were hit.

Many of the baseball players were not so lucky. A healthy fear of hard baseballs traveling at high speeds seems to be second nature for most Americans, as if we are born with an understanding that if a ball is fouled off into someone’s face, it’s going to hurt like heck at best. Although most of them didn’t understand what I was saying, I attempted many times to tell those watching the action to back away from the batter and catcher. During one ten-minute interval, I saw three people get hit hard in the face or head by baseballs. Throughout the whole practice there were constant near-misses as well.

On-deck hitters kept with the Chinese custom for preserving one’s place in line by crowding behind the person in front. That approach is okay for the local McDonald’s. In fact, if you don’t push your way up in line, you will find yourself standing in the same place for a long time, with person after person jumping in front of you. However, when the person at the front of the line is swinging a bat, a different set of rules should apply.

During the first practice with the college players, I was invited to pitch to the team as they scrimmaged. It soon became apparent that there were various skill levels represented at the plate. I was reminded of something I saw in Little League (where kids are usually just beginning to learn how to react to balls thrown towards them) when a particularly nervous batter accidentally stepped in front of the plate, opening up towards the ball so that it hit him directly in the stomach. Fortunately I was only throwing about 70 mph, so no major damage was done, except that the player was likely quickly cured of any interest he had in the new American sport. After that incident the other players warned me when I was pitching to someone who was new, so I could slow it down enough for them to take some solid cuts.

In a country where the sport hasn’t really caught on yet, it amazes me that these players respond so well to the difficulties of learning baseball. It is obvious that many of these people, girls and guys alike, have developed a love and even a passion for the game. Before their season started in June, they practiced on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Most practice sessions last five hours or longer. During the time I have participated with them, I have seen their skills improve, with arm strength increasing and fielding and batting capabilities doing the same.

So when the Olympics come to Beijing in 2008, what can we expect from the Chinese team? Will it be somewhat of an embarrassment, like the Greek team’s performance in 2004? Or will the home team have a chance to compete? My personal opinion is that the competition level doesn’t exist in China now for the national team to compete with the likes of Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., or Cuba. However, if they can get enough exposure by playing outside of China, they might just pull off a medal. As for the long-term outlook on baseball in China, comments made by someone who has more experience with the system, as an investor and active baseball supporter in China, give a pretty good take on the subject. When I mentioned to him that I was considering opening a baseball retail store or batting cage in Shanghai, one of the founders of the CBL told me that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I didn’t mind starving for a couple of years. A few years from now however, he said, a much different scenario is likely to exist, with baseball possibly becoming what it is in Taiwan.

[This article, written by Richard Robbins, was originally published online at http://www.robbinssports.com/articles.]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In baseball, how does a pitcher throw a curveball?

A successful major league batter gets a hit only 30 percent of the time he comes to bat. One of the ways pitchers lower these chances even further is by throwing a curveball. A curveball is a pitch that appears to be moving straight toward home plate but that is actually moving down and to the right or left by several inches. Obviously, a pitch that curves is going to be harder to hit than a fastball that is moving straight.
There are two basic factors involved in creating a curveball:

Proper grip

Air resistance

Any baseball pitch begins with how the pitcher grips the ball. To throw a curveball, a pitcher must hold the baseball between his thumb and his index and middle fingers, with the middle finger resting on the baseball seam. When the pitcher comes through his motion to throw the ball, he snaps his wrist downward as he releases the ball, which gives the ball topspin. If the pitcher throws properly, the back of the his hand will be facing the batter at the end of the motion. The ball will break down and away from a right-handed batter if thrown by a right-handed pitcher.

The spinning action created when the pitcher releases the ball is the secret behind the curveball. This spinning causes air to flow differently over the top of the ball than it does under the ball. The top of the ball is spinning directly into air and the bottom of the ball is spinning with the air flow. The air under the ball is flowing faster than air on top of the ball creating less pressure, which forces the ball to move down or curve. This imbalance of force is called the Magnus Effect, named for physicist Gustav Magnus, who discovered in 1852 that a spinning object traveling through liquid is forced to move sideways.

Adding to the air pressure exerted on the ball are the 108 red stitches that hold the cover on the ball. Because they are raised, the stitches increase the amount of friction created as the air passes around the ball and places more air pressure on top of the ball. A well thrown curveball can move as much as 17 inches either way. If you’ve ever seen a batter jump out of the way of a baseball that ends up crossing over the plate, you’ve seen a good curveball.

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choosing a good Baseball Bat!Silent Onechoosing a good Baseball Bat!

Ash

Most wood bats today are made from Northern White Ash generally harvested in Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. It is graded for quality with straight grain being the most important criteria. (Southern Ash grows too quickly and is not as dense). Major League grade is of course, the best and is also in short supply. Most of what you see that’s labeled or sold as Pro-Stock or some similar name is actually Minor League wood or a lesser grade and generally is found for around $40. Of course, there are other levels of quality down to the $20. range. They are known by grades called high school, trophy and retail (don’t expect to see the grades labeled). Generally, they are not of very good quality and only worth purchasing if money is an issue. (Better than not having any wood at all). You won’t find these on our site. We only work with quantities in straight ash.

Maple

Here is another material that has recently gained some Major League notoriety. They cost a bit more, but when made properly AND from the right material known as Rock or Sugar Maple, it is absolutely worth the extra money simply because it tends to outlast ash bats many times over. So in the long run, because they last longer, they’re less expensive.

So why don’t all major Leaguers use maple? Actually, as they are becoming more well known, more players are now using them. Just like in your own dugout, players will try out each other’s new bats. And since they have such good “feel”, some players will switch while other players having the superstitions that many ballplayers tend to have, will never change even the color much less the type of bat that they use. Also, since Major leaguers aren’t concerned with saving money on bat breakage, economy is not the issue that it is for the rest of us.

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