Quote:
|
Originally Posted by BlueToo
I think I know the VERY basics, but not alot about the details. Any recommendation on how to learn more about everything you mentioned?
|
Well, it depends how much time/money/effort you'd like to put into it. Nearly anyone here would be more than happy to help - including myself - but reading about isn't quite the same as experiencing it for yourself. A few options (among many) are:
1) If you have a spare $20 (after buying this game, of course
), one option you may have would be to purchase another game called "Backyard Baseball 2005" by Humongous Entertainment ('04 and '03 may both still be available for an even cheaper price). Yes, this is a game geared more towards kids, but I'd be the first to admit the guilty pleasure of playing the game (I wait until my son is asleep so that there aren't any witnesses). It's very fun, and the 2005 version has an excellent baseball tutorial. It mimics baseball basics with enough "realism" and teaches you different team strategies as it goes. You'll get into the swing of things in very little time and have fun while doing it. I highly recommend this game.
2) You can look over various websites ranging from MLB.com to Baseball Almanac, and even this forum and you can gleam quite a bit of knowledge that way. The benefit to this is that you don't have to lie to a clerk by saying that you're buying a kid's game for someone other than yourself, and you'll also get much more sophisticated knowlege. The drawback is that it's not very cohesive, and you'll be more likely to stumble upon debates more than anything concrete.
3) The "ask and you shall receive" method is a tried and true model. Ask us questions about what you don't know and would like to learn, and don't ask about things that you aren't concerned about. This way you can pace your own learning of the game, although as I mentioned earlier, this doesn't quite give you the same appreciation as some kind of active learning might.
4) Seeing as you're relatively new to the game and may come from a place where it's not very popular, this option may not work out very well, but ... you can always join a game with some of your friends. It's probably best if you're all around the same skill level, but it can be fun no matter what. As you play, you'll find things you wish you were better at, things which you're already good at, and you'll be able to figure out exactly what makes a good team and what doesn't. It won't teach you time-honored traditions and strategies, but it will give you a great feel for how you might run a team.
A tiny little bit of overall advice/info is that because there's so much variation in baseball and what styles teams use, you'll likely be able to play this game and find at least some measure of success because you'll wind up growing into your own style (and changing it as you go).
I hope we've all been of some help, here. Let us know if you have any questions.
