This postcard illustrates the baseball term Sacrifice Hit in an alternative and humorous way. It was mailed from Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 5, 1911 with a message that began as follows: "Say is that what you were doing yesterday so you could not come. I had chicken and pie and cake and a dandy dinner."
The glossary at mlb.com defines two types of Sacrifice Hits, Sacrifice Flies and Sacrifice Bunts:
Sacrifice Fly (SF)
A sacrifice fly occurs when a batter hits a fly-ball out to the outfield or foul territory that allows a runner to score.
In a bunt play, the batter loosely holds the bat in front of the plate and intentionally taps the ball into play. The video below illustrates the use of the Sacrifice Bunt strategy.
Sacrifice Bunt (SH)
A sacrifice bunt occurs when a player is successful in his attempt to advance a runner (or multiple runners) at least one base with a bunt. In this vein, the batter is sacrificing himself (giving up an out) in order to move another runner closer to scoring.
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Well, THAT puts a whole new spin on the ball, right? Great postcard!
ReplyDeleteNeat postcard and helpful video. I always feel kind'a sorry for the guys having to bunt or pop a sacrifice fly though. But it's a team sport so they have to do what's best for the team in a given situation. It's a pretty good bet they don't always like it, though.
ReplyDeleteI had to think hard to figure out who was talking for the card, but it sounds definitely like a female voice...and there she is throwing the plate at another woman, who we suppose was the real reason he didn't show up...but wait, there is a man there as well, defending himself. So I give up. Is this British humor, which I admit to having difficulty understanding! But wait, baseball is American.
ReplyDeleteMy mother once tossed a salad over my father's head at the dinner table. They rarely fought and I don't know what the argument was about. The next day a new washer and dryer were delivered to our front door. Taught me something perverse about "winning" in a marital argument, although I've never yet had to make such a Sacrifice Hit.
ReplyDeleteHa ! My daughter played fastpitch softball and coaches in that game love a bunt. My dad hated it and often got into philosophical discussions with the coach after a game. However, a bunt done well is a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteWell, from here in Scotland, I learnt some new meaning of words from your fun post.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, we've missed your postcards for quite a while now. As a mere spectator, it took me some time to understand rules like that - I had just about got the hang of it when they stopped playing!
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids stopped playing I mean
DeleteA great match for our theme. I enjoyed the video mainly because the next time my wife, who is British, asks me a technical question in the middle of a baseball game I can tell her to watch a tutorial! But that may demand a sacrifice hit too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great card! Love the graphics.
ReplyDelete