With baseball and softball season barely underway, you still have time to get a basic understanding of all the terms of the game before you are embarrassed to be in the dark. Let’s just start with the basics.

It is a baseball game. It is not a match. Please, for the love of all things holy, do not call it a baseball match.

Each game is divided into innings with each inning having a top and a bottom so each team can bat and play defense. Team A bats in the top of the inning while Team B plays defense. They switch in the bottom of the inning.

The whole point is to have the most runs at the end of the game. A team does this by not allowing the other team to score by forcing three outs per inning as quickly as possible and scoring as many runs as possible. Once the defense forces three outs, they are up to bat.

Now let’s play ball. The man throwing the ball on the little hill is the pitcher because he pitches the ball (throws it) to the man holding the bat who stands in the batter’s box. If the batter swings the bat and misses, it is called a strike. Three strikes, and the batter is out.

A batter can also earn a strike by hitting the ball into foul territory (out of bounds). The batter can earn their first two strikes this way, but cannot strikeout on a foul ball.

If the batter does not swing but it is goes through the strike zone (imaginary box measuring roughly from the batters knees to his shoulders) it is still a strike. Were he to not swing and it not go through that zone, it is a ball. Four balls and you walk, meaning you get to first base for free.

Let’s say the batter swings the bat and hits the ball. If they reach first base it is a single, if they reach second base it is a double, and if they reach third base we call it a triple.

Were the batter to hit the ball over the fence in the field of play, it is a home run, which brings everyone on base to home plate, scoring a run for each person who touches home plate. For each person that scores on the batter’s hit, the batter earns an RBI (run batted in).

If the batter hits the ball and it rolls on the ground, when the defense picks it up and throws it to first base before he gets there it is called a ground out. If the ball is hit up into the air but the defense catches it before it hits the ground it is an out as well and it’s called a fly-out.

If the defense is in position to catch the ball but drops it, the defense earns an error and the batter is safe if he reaches base.

If a game is tied at the end of regulation it will go into extra innings, it’s not called overtime the way it is in football and basketball.

Now that you’ve got the basics, print this cheat sheet, paint your face black and yellow and I’ll see you at Eck Stadium and Wilkins Stadium this spring.