By John Pierce
The World University Games were held in Buffalo, N.Y., in
1993. Some colleagues and I, making plans for the Georgia Tech campus (where I
was working at the time) to become Olympic Village three summers later, saw a
learning opportunity.
We were graciously welcomed to join the volunteer staff on
the State University of New York (SUNY) campus in Buffalo — first for training
and then after the world-class athletes arrived to compete.
We learned how to handle emergencies — including the
possibility that an athlete might seek to defect. Baseball players from Cuba,
for example, can find great rewards in professional baseball in the U.S.
Mostly, however, we found these young athletes were simply
looking for friendship, encouragement, food and directions — much like in 1996
when they and others came to Atlanta for the big Olympics stage.
Yet, one day there was quite a commotion as the tall,
broad-shouldered members of the Lebanese basketball team rushed into the hospitality
center. The clear leader of the mission bolted straight for me and stated his
inquiry strongly.
“Explain baseball; we don’t understand!” There was an
urgency and seriousness in his voice.
I’d watch some of baseball games there and realized that not
every country plays our national pastime — or plays it well. So I was glad to
help.
However, baseball is a nuanced game. For many of the rules
there are noted exceptions.
For example, if you swing and miss the third strike — you
are out. Except if the catcher doesn’t catch the ball on the third strike. Then
you can run safely to first base.
That is, if the catcher doesn’t throw the ball to the first
baseman (with his foot on the base) before you get there. Oh, but you can’t do
any of that if first base is already occupied by one of your teammates.
(You
get the picture.)
The intensity with which the request was made caused me to
take seriously this educational opportunity. So I tossed four magazines on the
floor to represent bases and recruited some other volunteers to join the
basketball players in order to assume the various defensive positions on my
make-belief field.
I was getting through with basic explanations rather well:
nine players, nine innings, three outs each half inning. There are strikeouts, ground
outs, fly outs...
I was on a roll. Heads were nodding.
Then a bright idea hit me: Sports Center. So I turned the
TV to ESPN where highlights from the previous night's Major League Baseball games were being
shown.
I explained each video clip from the home runs to the double plays.
Of course, this was several years before Leesburg, Georgia’s
own Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants had an ugly injury that caused MLB
to alter the rules for catchers and base runners who meet at home plate along
with the ball.
So when ESPN showed a major collision at home plate the basketball players turned baseball enthusiasts jumped and shouted in unison:
“FOUL! FOUL! FOUL!”
I shook my head and said, “You’re not going to believe this.
But you can do that in baseball.”
“No! Foul! No! Foul!”
I’m not sure they believed anything else I told them after
that. But I’ll always remember the day I sought to explain baseball to the
basketball team from Lebanon.
The truth is that the game is pretty simple in terms of its
math. But it takes a lifetime to learn (and perhaps to appreciate) the complexities and
nuances of baseball. And it’s worth it!
