h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Steve,

Try going to http://www.thepavilion.com.au/live/ any time over the next few days and click on the Aust v West Indies link.

It will give you a text description, almost ball for ball of what is going on.

See how you go

...and you can even barrack. Linus what name do you go under at the SMH site? I'm Mark Todd's horse

I haven't sent any messages Loony but if i do it will be as Linus

I just tried to send one Loony (saw your BTW) but it didn't come up. Do you need to be a member?

What is the designated hitter?
And what is a pinch hitter? That's another baseball phrase I believe I have heard and has me completely baffled

Ooh, I can beat the Americans to this one!

In one of the two baseball major leagues (the National League), the pitcher is expected to take his turn batting. In the other (the American League), he has a player who bats for him. Because this player doesn't have to field, it's often an old or overweight guy who has a good eye for a big swing but wouldn't be spry enough for fielding. He is the "designated hitter".

A "pinch hitter" is slightly different, because he only bats "in a pinch", i.e., when the situation demands it, or squeezed between innings. His job comes about from the rule that substitutions are unlimited but irreversible (ie, once a player is replaced he can't return). The way he works is:
Your pitcher pitches in innings x
It's your turn to bat in innings x (or x+1, if you're batting first)
You substitute for your pitcher a good batsman, similar characteristics to the DH above. He bats as the "pinch hitter".
You substitute the pinch hitter for a new pitcher when you take the field in innings x+1
Because in the AL you have a DH, it only makes sense to use the pinch hitter in the NL.
Sometimes a pitcher will be withdrawn in a crisis purely so that a pinch hitter can give the team one extra chance for a run; though if a pitcher is being changed between innings in any game situation, it makes sense to use one.

So basically, the pinch hitter bats just the once in any given match, and only when changing pitchers, and is kind of bending the rules, whereas the designated hitter bats as many times as the pitcher's turn comes round, and is legislated for within the rules.

One question I don't know the answer to (Steve?), is whether when you change your pitcher you must also change your DH, or does the same DH bat for all pitchers in a game?

GVI

PS I have a bseball question: why the seventh-innings stretch? Why not do it nearer to half-way through the game?

Back to the cricket for a minute. Linus, you don't have to be a member or sign-up to post (barrack). They were pretty slow putting the email feedback up on the site yesterday. They may have been having technical problems.

Perhaps the Kiwi programmers resigned after being headhunted by the Poms and septics. The old brain drain scenario

The West Indies batting was pathetic.

Linus -

Thanks for the tip on the live coverage. I read through some of it and decided to lower my understanding level from around 30% down to about half that

Here is a quote:

"The wicket brought nightwatchman Andy Bichel to the crease ..."

Since "nightwatchman" is not capitalized, I assume its not Andy B.'s nickname, but a more general term? Maybe like baseball's relief pitcher, someone who comes in late in the game (normally) to mop up? Actually, baseball has both "long relievers" and "closers", the latter pitching typically only the last inning or so, maybe that's closer to "nightwatchman"? The difference being a closer might face the best opposing batters due to the rotation of batters - I assume the nightwatchman (if I have it right) would never face the best batsmen?

GVI -

Pretty close, better than me answering a cricket question

Clarifications:

The DH is simply one of the nine batters, the only difference is he does not play the field (and of course the pitchers don't bat). But there is no connection to the pitcher(s), the DH can bat anywhere in the lineup, and can play through a series of pitchers.

And a pinch hitter can bat in place of any batter, not just a pitcher. Baseball managers have at least as many books of statistics as Wisden-toting cricket captains (now all computerized, of course). A typical situation is a right-handed pitcher about to face a right handed batter in a close game. Statistically, left-handed batters do better against right handed pitchers, hence a lefty pinch hitter will often appear. This can even cause a pitching change ... The pinch hitter becomes one of the nine fielders, also, although he can be substituted for in the field also. In many cases, the outcome of the pinch hitter's turn at bat late in the game determines the outcome of the game, one way or the other, so the fielding situation becomes academic.

Overall, both leagues still have pinch hitters, and I think it would not be unusual to pinch hit for a DH - the righty/lefty situation.

I don't know why the 7th inning stretch, I did a quick Web search and couldn't find the history. My guess is some cricket fan at a baseball game in the 19th century asked about a tea interval, and we've been doing it ever since (only with beer for the fans, now in plastic bottles only at the stadium).

I'm not 100% sure about all the above, being in a National League City and not having kept up with all the rule changes for some years. There is a lot of baseball history at

www.totalsports.com/baseball

if anybody is interested.

Steve,

A nightwatchman is often sent in late in a days play when a wicket is lost. The idea being for him to survive until the next day, and not exposing your good batsmen to the possibility of them getting out just before the end of the day.

There is much arguement as to the benefit of the nightwatchman ie: what happens if they then get out...do you send in another nightwatchman or does the batsman go out, and if so why didn't he go out there in the first place...

As for the seventh innings stretch, i thought it was bought in for purely commercial reasons to appease the television stations and allow them to have more ads.

From the "Aussie Strine" dictionary - night-watchman - (cricket) an inferior batsman sent in when a wicket falls near the close of a day's play.

As Linus says, a night-watchman (usually a specialist bowler) is used to protect speciallist batsmen. Near the end of a day's play often the conditions are poor - bad light, worn pitch (a roller is used to flatten it after a day's play ends) etc. Once the night-watchman is out - usually pretty quickly in the morning - the top batsman has the use of optimum batting conditions.

That's the theory anyway. Night-watchmen have been known to make centuries. They have also been known to go out pretty smartly so defeating the purpose. As they say, "that's cricket".

Steve,

http://www.baggygreen.com.au seems to be doing a better job at the moment and might be a bit easier for you to understand

Linus -

Thanks for the baggygreen site, although I'm not sure "understanding" is quite the right word

Here is a excerpt for one over:

QUOTE

80.1 GW Flower to Tendulkar, two runs, on the middle and leg, swept fine to the fine leg region
80.2 GW Flower to Tendulkar, no run, short delivery on the off, and
comming in a bit, defended
80.3 GW Flower to Tendulkar, no run, driven straight to the cover
fielder
80.4 GW Flower to Tendulkar, one run, tunded away to fine leg of his
backfoot and the batsman goes for a easy single
80.5 GW Flower to Dravid, FOUR, quicker one pushed down the leg side, dravid plys it fine to the fine leg boundary
80.6 GW Flower to Dravid, no run

End of over 81 (7 runs) India 284/2
GW Flower 8-0-24-0 - Corporation End
SR Tendulkar 35* (69b 4x4) R Dravid 85* (178b 12x4)

END QUOTE

I did manage to see that 7 runs were scored - 2+1+4. But most of the rest might as well be Greek: "swept fine to the fine leg region", "tunded away to fine leg of his back foot", "plays it fine to the fine leg boundary". The summary is equally inscrutable - I gather India scored 284 runs and lost two wickets? Beyond that, it looks like code And does the end make a big difference?

I would imagine a baseball "box score" (summary) is equally mystifying to non-fans.

Steve K.

Just wait until you hear about a bowler coming in to bowl with a short leg, a square leg and a silly point


One of the best things about cricket can be the commentary. Possibly the most famous qoute from a cricket commentator is "The batsmans holding the bowlers willy'.

He was actually referring to Michael Holding (West Indies) and Peter Willey (England).

Jim -

Agreed on the commentary being great. Like most Americans, I am always impressed by the vocabulary of practically anybody from the old Empire (excluding the American colonies, of course). I think most London cleaning ladies have a better command of the language than one of our leading candidates for US president ... but since it seems we may never pick a president (the election was over about six months ago, I think), I guess we're safe

Linus -

On the 7th inning stretch being commercial, agreed. What I don't know is why the 7th (of 9) innings, rather than closer to the middle. Maybe because with all the meetings on the mound, pinch hitting, pitcher changes (and related warmup pitches), the last couple of inning can last longer than the first 7.

Steve (and other interested people) this comes from the top cricket website cricinfo.

Follow the Cricinfo Women's World Cup live from New Zealand. Cricinfo will be bringing you live video and audio commentary from every game, providing comprehensive coverage throughout the tournament.

For full schedule details go to http://www.wwc2000.cricinfo.com

It starts tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11am NZ time. 10pm Tuesday British time. 6pm Tuesday Pacific (Florida) time.

At the website you can register to win prizes drawn randomly during the tournament. The main prize is a trip to either NZ or England.

My times were 30 minutes out.

Next match:
Australia Women v New Zealand Women
CricInfo Women's World Cup 2000

21:30 GMT, Nov 28.

I believe that's another World cup trophy we hold at the moment Loony

True Linus. NZ were runners-up the last two times. My prediction? Watch New Zealand's "Clear White Ferns" (sob) kick butt this time.

They didn't really inflict that name on them, did they?