Later this month, the American subsidary is having a department baseball game.  I will be in the US at the time and probably have to play.  I've never played baseball before.  Any tips?  As they say, "so-and-so fights like a girl"; I don't want to play like a girl and look silly when either striking out or slamming the ball and see it go only 10 feet.  I'm not too afraid of the catching and throwing the ball part.

keep your eye on the ball. You'll do fine. Nobody expects you to play like a professional. Just relax and enjoy playing the game.

Are you sure it's baseball & not slow-pitch softball?  There is a tremdous difference & the latter is what's much more commonly played...many, many leagues around the country--lot's of them are even for co-ed teams.

Assuming it's softball you'll probably be fine at bat as long as you can wait on the ball & resist the tempation to cream every pitch into the next county...level swing & try to hit it 100ft, not 1,000ft.  But mainly don't worry about it & just have fun.

I can't imagine any company playing baseball. It should take all of one or two innings before someone is hurt.

The fundamentals basically remain the same regardless of what ball you are using. When hitting, eyes on the ball, watch the ball make contact with the bat. Swing easy rather than hard. Don't pull your head out.

When fielding grounders, glove on the ground (Bill Buckner in 86 World Series can attest to this one).

Look the ball into your glove when catching a throw or fly ball.

Follow these rules and you too can get a mega million dollar contract with the Yankees

My bid just won on ebay so I'll get a glove before the game.  I think you're right - it's softball.  If you're interested, I usually review the London ladies though I might try an American one when I'm there later this month.

You've been given some great tips here and I'd like to add one more.  Visit the batting cages (most cities have them) and practice hitting in the slow pitch cage.  Good luck.  YNH.

As others have written it is most likely softball and not baseball.

1) Do not swing at the first pitch. Ever. Use it to gauge the pitchers speed and accuracy. Softball pitchers have to throw underhand so the ball will be coming at you from above and going down (think about that for a minute). This means that timing is everything.

2) Do not try to crush the ball. If you do you will just miss and look foolish. There's usually 1 or 2 players on a team that have the size and bat speed to crush the ball. You'll know who they are when you see the outfielders move way back when they come up to the plate.

3) Choke up on the bat. This means hold the bat higher on the handle. You won't generate as much power but you'll get better accuracy. This is important for novices.

4) Keep the bat off of your shoulder. Hold the bat so that it is at a 45 degree angle.

5) Keep you eyes on the ball. Just like golf. Follow the ball in and swing but keep your eyes on it and your head will remain steady.

6) Swing the bat level. When you take your swing make sure that the bat remains level. You will want to practice this so I'd recommend buying a bat. Stand in front of a mirror.

7) Make sure that your feet are planted and try and have them both facing the plate. As you get more comfortable with the game you can change your stance to suit your needs but for the beginning do this.

8) When you make contact with the ball don't throw the bat. Just drop it and run towards first base. Hustle will get you everywhere's.

9) For your first time try and play as the 5th infielder if your game has one. if you can try and play between 1st and 2nd base since most players bat right handed. Your throws to first base will also be a lot shorter. I'd advise against playing the outfield your first time becuase you can easily lose perspective on how far a fly ball has been hit and really look like a fool. You will also do a lot more running in the outfield and you are kind of out of the action many times.

10) Remember about force plays - especially at 2nd base. If there is a runner on first base and the batter hits a grounder to you, you can throw the runner out at 2nd base and he doesn't have to be tagged. All the 2nd base man has to do is step on the base with the ball in his glove. Same applies to other bases when runners are on 1st and 2nd or 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

11) One thing that may not be obvious to you if you have never played and grew up in a different country is that you wear your golve on your "weak" hand. If you are right handed that means you wear your glove on your left hand so that you can throw the ball with your right hand. This may take some getting used to so it's a good thing you bought a glove (hopefully for the correct hand). It would be good if the previous owner will have broken it in correctly so it won't be stiff. A softball is much bigger than a baseball so if you can try and buy a softball to hold in your glove and get a feel for it. Don't forget to smell the glove. There's nothing quite like the smell of a leather glove.  

12) Enjoy yourself and remember that you are playing a game.

-- Modified on 10/12/2003 4:08:19 AM

Also when fielding a ground ball GET LOW-. Like cricket your job is to stop the ball- then to possess it- then the throw it-  breaking fielding into these three parts makes it easier- Catch it if you can- the glove will really help as opposed to Cricket

EOM