Welcome all, to the long-running ritual of batting practice (BP). It’s two and a half hours before game time. The grounds crew wheels out a domed netted cage to home plate. They place a low platform in front of the pitcher’s mound. A coach carries a bucket of balls in one hand and windmills their other arm in an attempt to loosen it up as they make their way to the platform. Before the platform is a protective screen aptly named an L-Screen, because, the surprise of all surprises, it is shaped like an L. Players gather around the cage, bats in hand, fiddling with batting gloves, waiting for their turn at the plate.
A Trip to the Plate
Published accounts of batting practice can be found in newspapers as early as the 1880s. That’s right, batting practice has been a baseball tradition almost as long as baseball has been an organized sport. Picture this: the first electric streetlight is installed, USC has just opened it doors with a whopping 53 students and 10 faculty, James Garfield is President, and Candy Cummings had just invented the curveball. It is at this time that ballplayers started taking BP before ballgames, and it hasn’t stopped since.
Purpose
The purpose of batting practice is two-fold. The first fold is practice. The second fold is to get the blood pumping.
Action
For the majority of Major League Baseball’s existence, batting practice has been an on-field endeavor. This is what most fans of the game, at least those who cut out of work early and make it to the ballpark a couple hours prior to game time, witness. The gates typically open two hours before the first pitch and the most fortunate of fans stream into the welcoming aroma of hot dogs, stale beer, and hear the crack of the bat. This is the best time to score a baseball because there are fewer fans and more balls flying over the fence. It is also a good time for autograph hounds because the intensity of competition is a ways off and most ballplayers are still in a childlike state of enjoyment.
Each team gets about 45 to 50 minutes to take their cuts. Usually, the home team hits first followed by the visitors. Teams break up into small groups and rotate in and out of the cage as other teammates shag the balls that are sprayed all over the field. Players can swing for the fences, bunt, hit the ball to the opposite field, or work on their off-speed approach. It is a time to focus on weaknesses in their game or highlight their prowess for the fans.
Behind the Scenes
Over the decades batting practice has found its way off of the field as well. This trend started with the new era of ballpark construction that began with the home of the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, in 1992. Many of the newer parks have additional hitting cages in the bowels of the stadium. These cages allow players to work on different hitting drills that wouldn’t work well on the field. The newer ballparks even have cages for visiting teams. This allows both teams to get a little tee-work or soft toss in before, during, or after the on-field BP.
Baseball’s Pastime
Batting practice is a tradition for players and fans alike. It is a chance to loosen up and get ready for the game ahead. Players work on their swings. Fans scramble for baseballs and grub down a pregame plate of nachos. It is a time-honored tradition that breaks down the class wall that has been built up between the fans and the players due to wildly inflated salaries. However, batting practice reminds us that baseball is a game and that there are many games within the game. Batting practice truly is our national pastime’s pastime.
“Main Photo”
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