The Weekend - Baseball(0085)

A:  Hello baseball fans, and welcome back to today's game! My name is Rick Fields and of course, I am here, once again, with the man that seals the deal, Bob Copeland.
B:  It's a beautiful day to see two world class teams face each other and fight for their right to be called champions.
A:  Well, the national anthem has just been sung, and the umpire has started the game. It's time to play ball!
B:  Roger Vargas is up at bat. The pitcher winds up and strike one!
A:  A very nice curve ball by the pitcher. The catcher gives him the sign, he winds up and Vargas gets a line drive!
B:  The players are scrambling to get the ball. Vargas gets to first base and he's still going! The outfielder throws it to second! Vargas slides! He's safe!
A:  Great play!
B:  We have a runner on third and up at bat is Brian Okami! There's the pitch, he hits it! It's going, going, that ball is gone!
A:  Home run by Okami! That puts this team ahead by two as we are at the bottom of the fifth inning here at Richie Stadium!

Key Vocabulary

world classAdjectiveranking with the best in the whole world
national anthemcommon noun, singularthe song that represents a country and is played in ceremonies
umpirecommon noun, singulara person who controls and judges a baseball game
up at batphraseget ready to hit the ball
wind upphraseget the energy to throw the ball
curve ballcommon noun, singulara ball thrown on a curve (i.e. not straight) that is hard to hit
pitchercommon noun, singularthe player who throws the ball to the batter
catchercommon noun, singularthe player behind home plate who catches the ball without being hit
line drivephrasea hit that travels low along the baseline
scrambleverbdo something quickly and in a disorganized way
outfieldercommon noun, singulara player who plays in the area that is relatively far from the pitch
safeAdjectivesuccessfully gets to the base
home runphrasea hit that strikes the ball out of the field
inningcommon noun, singulara set of baseball containing a turn at bat and a turn in field for each side

Supplementary Vocabulary

up to batphrasethe next in line to do something
ballpark figurephrasean approximate number
hit it out of the parkphraseto do something very well, or very successfully
off the batphraseimmediately, with out delay
screwballcommon noun, singularan unusual, crazy, or eccentric person