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| Baseball bat, glove, and ball (Google Images) |
By Taner Helton
This
paper is going to be about the focal language of baseball players. Focal
language is a language that a certain group of people or a certain culture uses
that people outside of that certain group or culture does not understand. (Gezon
& Kottak, 2014) You have to be a
part of that culture or group to understand their focal language. There are
many cultures and groups that use focal language. I decided to do my paper on
the focal language of baseball players because I am familiar with the focal
language used in baseball. Since I am familiar with baseball, I will be my own
culture informant.
There
are many different terms used in baseball. A lot of people who never watch
baseball or never play baseball probably would have a hard time figuring out
what the terms mean. The terms that are used in baseball are a part of
baseball’s focal language. Every baseball player should be familiar with the
focal language of baseball. If a player did not know the focal language, he
would have a hard time knowing what is going on.
Here
is a list of ten baseball terms used in baseball’s focal language:
·
Steal:
a term used when a player runs from one base to another without a player on his
team hitting the ball.
·
Pitch:
a term used when the pitcher on a team throws a ball to the catcher.
·
Strike
zone: a term used to describe where a pitcher can throw a ball to get a strike.
·
Strike:
a term used when the pitcher throws a ball in the strike zone.
·
Ball:
a term used when the pitcher throws a ball outside of the strike zone.
·
Walk:
a term used when a pitcher throws four balls outside of the strike zone,
resulting in the batter getting to go to first base.
·
Strikeout:
a term used when a batter misses three balls that are thrown in the strike
zone, resulting in that player being called out.
·
Foul:
a term used to describe a ball that is hit out of play.
·
Base
hit: a term used when a batter hits a ball and gets on base.
·
Home
run: a term used when a batter hits a ball over the outfield fence resulting in
that player getting to go all the way to home plate.
Focal language is
very important to baseball. Baseball uses focal language to describe the rules
of the game. All the rules in baseball use terms that are a part of baseball’s
focal language. If you do not know what
the terms used in baseball’s focal language, then you will not know anything
that is going on. It would be very hard to try and play or watch baseball if
you do not know the focal language.
People
that are not familiar with baseballs focal language would have a hard time
watching or playing the game. A person would be completely lost if he or she
tried to watch a baseball game and did not know what the commentators were
saying. It would also be very hard to try and play baseball if you do not know
the focal language being used. Baseball uses focal language to describe the
rules of the game so if you did not know the focal language then you wouldn’t
know how the game is played. Baseball members know all the focal language used
and they know what all the terms mean.
If
you are not familiar with baseball’s focal language or any of the terms used in
baseball you should not try and play the sport. It would be very difficult to
do. Focal language is a huge part of the game. Every player on every team uses
focal language in baseball. Also, every team has their own distinct focal
language that they use. Teams use different focal language to give signs to
each other so the other team does not know what they are saying or doing. Focal
language is very important in baseball and always will be.
Bibliography
Gezon, L., & Kottak, C. (2014). Cultural Anthropology McGraw-Hill
43 comments:
I learned about baseball at a later time than most people because I was grown up in a football only family. I remember trying to figure out what most of it meant because I was playing a Wii game back in like 2006 and I’ve heard most of the terms by then but couldn’t guess what they mean but stealing a base. I think that’s one of the reasons why I never really wanted to learn baseball focal language.
I was basically the same but with basketball instead and a lot of the sports languages use the same terms with in each. It used to confuse me because of the definition of the term to my sport didnt mean the same and I tried to tie the two together - Pierre
I agree with him when he said if you do not know certain terms for different sports you will be lost and won't know what is happening. I learned from experienced when I was trying to watch soccer I was lost the whole game. - Adriana
I disagreed with the author when he stated that if you are unfamiliar with a sports' focal language then you should not try to play that sport. Majority of people learn from experience and actually participating, which is the best way to learn focal language especially in sports. -Brandon Hall
I remember going to baseball games while I was in high school and the entire time I was lost and confused. I didn't understand the language and was just so lost. I guess if you don't get baseball you will never get it.
I agree that focal language is very important in baseball and all sports in general and that is one of the reasons it is so hard to start a new sport. Or to start a sport that you don't really know much about.-Delmar
I agree that focal Language is important in many sports but learning and not understanding the language makes the sport much harder than what it actually is and once you figure out the Language then things start to become clear- Rodney
Focal language is indeed a key factor in communication within groups. My fraternity has it's own focal language that only we are able to comprehend because it's culturally specific to us. - Darien T.
Focal Language is apart of peoples everyday lives. One example of this is quarterbacks in football with their different calls and hand signals to the receivers and o line men and the defenses response on the football field. I also think that focal language is that of the slang we use. for example I told my professor Tony G that I was about to "shake" class meaning that I was leaving. He thought that I was meaning that I had to shake something up or mix something. we had 2 different meanings of shake.
After reading the passage I feel like it was a well written out paper but there was one thing that kind of disagreed on which was when the author stated that if one is not familiar with baseball focal language, one should not play the sport. I feel like that is an incorrect statement because everyone starts out somewhere and end up learning the sport as they get older
-Arthur Holloway
I can relate to this article because band is the same way. when a person isn't familiar with the focal language of the specific thing their trying to do, (like in baseball) it makes it hard for them to learn with out any prier knowledge.
I played softball from t-call through high school. The focal language is the same as in baseball. I agree how important focal language is in baseball/softball as well as in every sport. If you don't understand the focal language then it can be very hard to understand what is going on and what plays are being called. - Shannon
I had never really knew to much about baseball till I got older because I couldn't really understand the game. When I was older I didn't realize how much focal language is used is baseball. Later after watching for a while I had finally caught on with focal language to make more sense of the game to me.
I had never really knew to much about baseball till I got older because I couldn't really understand the game. When I was older I didn't realize how much focal language is used is baseball. Later after watching for a while I had finally caught on with focal language to make more sense of the game to me.
I agree with the author if you don't know the terms of baseball you will not know how the game is played. I never been to a baseball game because baseball was never my sport and I'll probably be the confused one wondering what's going asking all questions like what do that term mean. - Jasmine Davis
I agree with the argument about focal language being very import and if you do not know what players are talking about you will not understand what's going on. I feel that every sport have there own unique way of language. When I'm watching certain sports like football or baseball I feel clueless because I'm not always watching or paying attention to it, but basketball I love to watch and as I watch it more I get the understanding of what's going on and the language that's being use because I'm paying attention . So you don't have to play a sport to understand what's going on. - Jacquelyn Starks
I agree with the author when it comes to understanding focal language in sports/activities that you participate in. I participated in competitive cheerleading and their is some focal language that we have and if you have never cheered or been around cheerleaders to get an explanation on what the terms mean then you will be very lost when watching a cheerleading routine being performed. -Brianne Pickett
Focal language is very important in the Archaeology study because it helps them to identify different things in a specific culture. Not only does it help the archaeologist but the people who don't understand someone's else's culture.
I was intrigued by this article, just like baseball and many other sports, music also has a language and subculture. For example Musicians use gestures to control dynamics tempo and even style, all with out saying a word.
Baseball like other sports and some organizations use focal language that are specific to their areas. An outsider or someone who is not familiar with the terms used as the author suggested would have a hard understanding. The terms used used in a different context may have a totally different meaning. - Meisha Thomspon
This topic was unknown to me before this class and the fact that I really got to study it in depth and learn that it is something I use in my everyday lifestyle amazed me honestly.
Baseball like other sports and some organizations use focal language that are specific to their areas. An outsider or someone unfamiliar with the sport will have a hard time grasping the overall basis of the sport. The terms used have different meanings depending on the context in which they are used.
Meisha Thompson
I can think of many groups that would use different types of focal language that you wouldn't be able to keep up with without knowing the sport. Such as football, volleyball, Racing.
Ashley Jacobson
The joy of baseball is that it's easier than a lot of sports to learn because most of the task are pretty simple such as catching, hitting, and throwing. I'm not saying that anyone can be good at it but with the right training to get better baseball becomes an easy thing to play and learn.
Being an assistant sports information director its been a journey of learning the focal languages of sports. Its well worth it though if you love sports. Im still adjusting to soccer, tennis, hockey, and volleyball terms. Even though I work in sports you learn something new everyday. Small details lead to understanding sports then big details. I really enjoyed this article and with recent comments I agree about not giving up on the focal language its all a learning process.
At first I was totally unaware of what focal language was, but now I understand how important it is in our day-to-day lives. Everyone uses focal language. For example just yesterday my best friend said to me, 'look at all my dough.’ Which is the same thing as saying ‘look at all my money.'
Focal language is very important lost of groups have focal language like football and basketball cheer even dance!
I never really paid attention to the focal languages in sports. I just started trying to watch basketball, football, soccer, baseball, tennis, and golf and out of all of these sports I only like basketball. That's because I know the focal language for it. But for the rest of the sports I don't know what they are talking about half of the time. For example, In golf you can get a birdie, I don't know what a birdie is.
I never realized how much focal language was in sports, but it is very true. As a golfer our focal language is different and not easy to pick up on. My mom has watched me play golf for years and still doesn't always use the right word or words when she is talking to me about golf. As a golfer it becomes frustrating when the wrong word is used, but after reading this blog I understand how difficult it can be to pick up on golf's focal language.
Logan Taylor
I never knew that baseball had focal language. I knew that were certain things they did during the game, but i thought those were just symbols they made up to play the game.
-Daisha Benton
I think that it is real discouraging to say not to play the sport if you don't know the focal language because you can always learn it. I feel that a majority of all sports have their own focal language that they use to keep the game going.
Kenneth Granger
Learning a sport has always been fun to me. Never knew that I was learning a Focal language.
Focal languages are extremely important for anyone playing a sport! I would love to learn some of these languages when I start!
I never really paid attention to the focal languages in sports. I just went through life enjoying the sport just how i Knew how.
I have always had a thing for sports because I thought it was so much fun but i did not know it had some sort of meaning behind it . That is focal language i never knew that was a thing only until after reading this blog it was great to learn about it . - Mykia Chaney
I’ve never been a fan of baseball but reading this kind of gives me an insight on how the game goes in general. As far as the “focal language” in baseball it really gives you a clear understanding of what the players go through as well . Highly interesting with this one , dude to the fact I don’t care for baseball , this didn’t make me want to learn the game more , lol it’s too long of a sport .
-Jazlyn Logan
Hi my name is Avery Davis, and I find this blog interesting. I did not know that focal language was in baseball. I played baseball and I thought it was instincts but it was a focal language.
I definitely believe that focal language is very important in the Archaeology study. This also gave me insight on baseball because im not a huge fan. it helped me understand.
-Kyla Thomas
This is my first time hearing of "focal language". I feel like that's even more stress on the players to be fluent in it. I actually really liked how this blog was organized and transitioned to be great and understandable.
-jasmine busby
This was kind of hard for me to read because I don’t know focal language. When I was younger I used to go to my dad’s baseball games. When I went to the games I would see them using focal language, but I never understood it. Even on movies if they had a baseball scene, the players would use focal language.
AJ Moore
This post was very relatable to me, as I am teaching young children the focal language of baseball at this moment. Without understanding the terms you had explained further, such as walk, steal, foul, it would be impossible to play the game.
Elaine christopher
This blog was interesting I do agree that focal language is very important in todays time. Especially a good example was baseball but really in all sports in general and that is one of the reasons it is so hard to start a new sport. Or to start a sport that you not really so sure about.
This post shows how important it is to grasp the focal language since to fully engage in and win in the game, players must be aware of its rules and methods. Players may find it difficult to understand the activity on the field and make wise selections when playing if they are unfamiliar with baseball jargon. It also makes the argument that outsiders, such as spectators or those who are unfamiliar with the game, might find it difficult to comprehend baseball's focal language. This brings up issues of inclusion and the requirement to open up the game to a wider audience, maybe using instructional programs or materials that provide an explanation of baseball lingo.
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