Well, now, let me tell you somethin’ about this here baseball game. You seen them boys out there, runnin’ around, hittin’ that little ball? That’s baseball, yeah. And you’re askin’ if you need a whole team to play it, huh?
Shoot, you kinda do need some folks to play with. It ain’t much fun just throwin’ that ball up in the air yourself, now is it? You need someone to throw it, someone to hit it, and someone to catch it. It get borin’ real quick, you just standin’ there alone.
Now, they say, I heard ’em say it, you need like, nine folks on each side. Nine! Can you believe it? That’s a whole mess of people. They all got their jobs, you see. One fella, he’s the pitcher. He’s the one who throws the ball real hard, tryin’ to make the other fella miss. And that other fella, he’s the batter, he stands there with that big stick, tryin’ to whack that ball to kingdom come.
Then you got the catcher, he’s squatting back there behind the batter, tryin’ to catch whatever the batter misses. He’s wearin’ all that padded stuff. It looks real hot out there in the sun wearin’ all of that. And he gets down in the dirt a lot. Reminds me of plantin’ taters, cept he’s catchin’ a ball.
Then there are all them other fellas, standin’ out there in the field. They’re all waitin’ for that ball to come flyin’ their way. You got your first baseman, your second baseman, and your third baseman, all standin’ by them little white bags, look like little pillows. Then you got some more fellas even further out, in the grass. They’re the outfielders, they run around chasin’ after the ball when it gets hit way out there.
- Pitcher: Throws the ball.
- Catcher: Catches the ball if the batter misses.
- Batter: Tries to hit the ball.
- Basemen: Stand by the bases.
- Outfielders: Catch the ball in the outfield.
So, yeah, you need a bunch of folks to play a proper game of baseball. They say nine on each team, so that’s like, eighteen people total. Eighteen! That’s more people than live on my whole road! But I reckon you could probably play with less. Maybe you just got a few friends together, you could still have a little game.
Just take turns, you know? One throws, one hits, one catches. It might not be a real, official game, but it’d still be baseball. And it would still be fun, long as you got some folks to play with. ‘Cause like I said, it ain’t no fun playin’ all by yourself. You gotta have someone to share it with, someone to run around with, someone to holler and shout with.
They do a lot of hollerin’ and shoutin’ in baseball. And spittin’. Don’t forget the spittin’. They spit a lot. I don’t rightly know why, but they do. Maybe it’s just all the runnin’ around gets their mouths all dry. They spit more’n a bunch of old men chewin’ tobacco down at the general store, I tell ya.
These youngins today though, they got all these fancy rules and such. Back in my day, we just grabbed a stick and a ball and found an empty field. We didn’t worry ’bout all these ‘official’ rules. We just played for the fun of it. And the exercise is good for ya. All that runnin’ around. Keeps ya young. Or at least, that’s what I hear. I ain’t doin’ much runnin’ these days. But I seen them do it. They run a lot in baseball.
These days, they even got leagues, you know? Little League, they call it. For the kids. Then you got the bigger leagues, for the grown-ups. And they got these fancy uniforms, all matchin’ and such. They all look so spiffy. My grandson, he plays in the Little League. He’s got a little uniform, just like the big leaguers. It’s cute, I reckon, all these little fellers runnin’ around. And he needs all those other fellers on his team to play. He can’t play alone, ya know.
They even got baseball on the television now. You can watch it any time you want. It’s somethin’, ain’t it? The world sure is changin’. Used to be, you had to go to the game to see it. Now you can just sit right there in your livin’ room and watch it on that little box. But I like it better when you go out to the field, smell the grass, and watch it for real, you know?
So, to answer your question, yeah, you kinda need a team to play baseball. A whole bunch of folks, really. But even if you just got a few, you can still have some fun. Just remember to share, take turns, and don’t forget to spit. And if you want a real game with all the rules, you better find yourself 18 folks. It’s a lot, but that’s just how it is. Baseball needs a lot of people.
