in the usual horizontal manner, but vertically, with his arms fully extended.
Immediately, the whole crowd was chanting, "Let's Go Fish. Let's Go Fish," and clapping in that queer manner.
"What in the name of heaven are they doing?" I asked Nicole, pointing at the crowd. Henry and Kern were doing it too.
"It's the fish clap," she replied.
"Fish clap?" There must be too much mercury in the fish these people consume.
"Yeah, the fish clap." Nicole started doing it too. "Let's Go Fish!"
I watched her do the fish clap, then it dawned on me: those clapping hands were intended to emulate the snapping maw of a vicious muskie.
If baseball is consideredAmerica 's pastime,America is indeed a strange place.
Scrutinizing the fans, I missed the first pitch, merely hearing the loud "pat" as the ball struck the catcher's glove and the deep, guttural, "Hu-huh!" of the umpire. The fans cheered louder.
"What happened?"
"Strike one," Nicole said. My expression must have betrayed confusion. "Lesson one, right now. The pitcher throws the ball, and the batter tries to hit it. A pitched ball may be a ball or a strike, depending on whether or not the pitcher throws it in the strike zone, which is in line with home plate, above the knees and below the shoulders. If the batter doesn't swing at three pitches thrown in the strike zone, he's out, what's called a 'strike-out'. If the pitcher throws four pitches out of the strike zone, the batter is awarded first base. That's a 'walk' or a 'base on balls'."
I nodded and turned back toward the action - or the inaction; the pitcher had not yet thrown another pitch. He bent over and stared toward the batter, shaking his head, shaking his head, shaking his head, before nodding, straightening and throwing. "Pop." "Hu-huh!"
"Strike two?" I asked.
"Very good, Al," Nicole said.
"See," Kern chimed in, "I said he was a fast learner."
"The object of the contest is to actually hit the ball, is it not?"
"Yeah," Nicole answered. "Put it in play, meaning between the two lines that run all the way from home plate to the outfield. If the batter swings at a pitch, strike or ball, and misses, it's a strike. If he hits the ball, but not within the white lines, it's a foul ball, which counts as a strike."
The pitcher threw, and the batter swung, barely tipping the ball, sending it flying against the fence behind him. "Like that?" I said.
"And watch out for flying baseballs," Henry added. "We're pretty close to the action. A line drive might come screaming in here, so heads up."
The pitcher leaned forward. Shook his head once, then again.
"Why does the pitcher keep shaking his head like that?"
"Pitchers are arms with no brains," Nicole said. "The catcher is signaling to the pitcher what kind of pitch to throw. If the pitcher shakes his head, he doesn't like the call. When he nods his head, that means he's in agreement with the catcher, but I'll tell you, most of the time, it's the catcher who decides what to throw and where to throw it."
The pitcher finally nodded.
"See how the catcher is sitting toward the outside of the plate?" Nicole said. "He's called for a pitch away from the hitter as opposed to inside."
"Heater," Kern said.
"Naw," Henry countered. "Bender."
The batter swung and missed. A loud roar rose from the crowd.
"Heeeeeeee struck him out!" Henry shouted in such a manner as to tear away the first two layers of skin from the inside of his throat.
Head bowed, the batter shuffled away from the plate, the crowd chanting, "Left, right, left, right, left, right," until he reached his team's shelter. Then, "Step, step, step," and finally, "Siddown, ya bum!"
More rituals. "May I presume they do this every time an opposing batter strikes out?"
"Sure," Nicole said, "it's one of the most fun things about going to a Muskies game.Madison is known throughout the Midwest League for this."
Leonsat after leading the cheer, punching left, right, left, right fists in the air. The fans sitting directly adjacent all took turns shaking his hand, all just wanting to touch him as if he was Jesus Christ, or rather Jesus Christ wearing a propeller beanie.
I turned to Henry and Kern. "What are heaters and benders?"
"Different types of pitches," Kern said. Henry was too busy drinking his beer to reply.
Nicole touched me lightly on the shoulder as the next batter stepped into the batter's box. "A heater is a fastball. A bender is a type of a breaking ball - a