Well, let me tell ya somethin’ about this here “casciac baseball,” or whatever them city folks call it. I don’t know much about fancy words or rules, but I know a thing or two about watchin’ them young’uns play ball. It’s kinda like watchin’ chickens in the yard, but with more runnin’ and yellin’.
First off, they got this thing called a “season.” Season, that’s when they play ball, I reckon. They start trainin’ way back in March, conditioning they call it. Sounds fancy, but it probably just means runnin’ around a lot. Then they got their first game end of March, then keep playin’ till May, right before summer gets too hot for them boys to be runnin’ around like crazy.
- Conditioning: March 9th
- First Practice: March 16th
- First Game: March 30th
- Last day for Tournament: May 23rd
- State Tournament: Startin’ May 25th
Now, they got these fellas in blue, umpires they are. They make the calls, like whether the boy hit the ball fair or not. Sometimes them boys don’t like the calls, and they argue, just like my grandson when I tell him to eat his greens. They can even “appeal,” whatever that means, sounds like complainin’ to me. They wanna “reverse” the call, like turnin’ back time or somethin’. I tell ya, these young folks got too much sass these days.
Then there’s this “hitting” thing. They try to smack that little white ball as hard as they can. Sometimes they hit it on the ground, sometimes they hit it up in the air. There’s this word “carom,” I heard once. Sounds like somethin’ you do with a car, but they use it when the ball hits somethin’ funny, like a glove or a foot. Land sakes, them boys hit it every which way but loose!
And they got somethin’ they call “innings.” Now, that’s just a way to keep track of how much playin’ they’ve done. Each team gets a turn to hit, and a turn to catch. Top and bottom they call it. Like milkin’ cows, mornin’ and evenin’. You gotta do both to get the job done.
They also talk about “GB%.” Now, I ain’t no numbers person, but from what I gather, it’s about how often they hit the ball on the ground. They count all sorts of things, not just the outs. Makes my head spin, it does. Why can’t they just say “hit it on the ground a lot” and be done with it?
And the fields, oh the fields! Some are grass, real grass like my pasture. But some, they’re this fake grass stuff, “turf” they call it. They say it’s tough, can be played on all the time. Seems unnatural to me, like them plastic flowers they sell at the store. Nothin’ beats the real thing, I say.
They got schedules and results, all on them computers now. You can even download it to your “Outlook,” whatever that is. Sounds like somethin’ you use to look out the window, but I guess it’s some kinda fancy calendar. Back in my day, we just knew when the game was, ‘cause everybody in town talked about it.
Now, I hear some of these young’uns, they’re real serious about this playin’ ball stuff. Just like some are serious about farmin’ or milkin’ cows. They got all sorts of games too, not just baseball. Video games they call ’em. Kids these days, always starin’ at screens.
So that’s what I know ‘bout this “casciac baseball.” It’s a game with runnin’, hittin’, arguin’, and a whole lotta rules I don’t understand. But it gets them young’uns outside and gives ’em somethin’ to do, so I guess it ain’t all bad.
And this Connecticut somethin’ or other, well, they’re the ones who keep it all runnin’ smooth-like. They give the schools and the boys what they need. Kind of like the feed store, but for baseball, I reckon.
Tags: [Baseball, Connecticut, High School Sports, CIAC, Schedule, Season, Tournament, Rules, Conditioning, Umpires, Hitting, Innings, GB%, Turf, Games]
