Editing 1593: Play-By-Play
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Beret Guy]] comments on a {{w|baseball}} game | + | [[Beret Guy]] comments on a {{w|Baseball|baseball}} game in a way that demonstrates that he has never seen one previously. Moreover, his naïve way of speaking reveals that he is not aware of his lack of knowledge and does not consider it possible that, as is probably the case, his audience is much more familiar with this sport and its rules. |
+ | |||
+ | While the text sounds like it was done in the same style as Up-Goer Five, it does not comply with Randall's rules for Thing Explainer. Running the text of the comic through simplewriter shows that this comic uses words that are not among the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. The non-complying words are "Bat," "Shelves" "Wow," "Rude," "Teammates," "Pillow," "Yikes," and "Hopefully." | ||
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+ | This comic may also be seen as a commentary on the fact that the final trailer for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens was shown at halftime during Monday Night Football on the Monday just prior to this comic's publication. A commonly held prejudice is that those who are interested in sports (whether it's baseball, football, or whatever) and would be watching professional football on Monday night is a different population from the group that would be excited about seeing the trailer for a science fiction film as soon as humanly possible. This comic seems to be poking fun at science fiction fans, who are often experts in the details and esoterica of fictional worlds, and how they would react to a sports game they have no practical experience with. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
− | ! | + | ! Text |
− | ! | + | ! Explanation |
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|- | |- | ||
|"We're on part 5 of a hitting game." | |"We're on part 5 of a hitting game." | ||
− | + | |Part of baseball is hitting the ball with the {{w|Baseball bat|bat}}. A game is divided into 9 rounds, or {{w|Inning|innings}}. | |
− | |Part of baseball is hitting the ball with the {{w|Baseball bat|bat}}. A | ||
|- | |- | ||
|"The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far." | |"The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far." | ||
− | | | + | |Every hitter uses a bat that fits his physique (within certain {{w|Baseball_bat#Baseball_bat_regulations|limits}}). Carrying a larger bat does not automatically mean successfully batting the ball far. |
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
|"Wait - he missed!" "Oh good, they're letting him try again." | |"Wait - he missed!" "Oh good, they're letting him try again." | ||
− | + | |The {{w|Pitcher|pitcher}} tries to throw (or pitch) the ball in such a way as to make it hard for the hitter to hit the ball, but still have the ball go through the {{w|Strike zone|strike zone}}. (A swing and a miss is counted as a strike, regardless of whether the ball passes the strike zone.) A hitter is out when he accumulates three strikes (a {{w|Strikeout|strikeout}}); thus, swinging and missing will not get a hitter out if he has not accumulated two strikes already, and in this case he will be allowed to "try again". | |
− | |The | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | |"The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them | + | |"The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them." |
− | + | |Cheering and heckling is so commonplace that the players on the field are unlikely to react to it. "Chair shelves" refers to {{w|bleacher}}s. | |
− | |Cheering and heckling is so commonplace that the players on the field are unlikely to react to it. | ||
|- | |- | ||
|"This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them." | |"This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them." | ||
− | | | + | |The pitcher strikes out every hitter, who then has to leave the batting area and gets replaced by another hitter (until three outs after which the teams switch sides). Or, he keeps {{w|Base on Balls|walking}} hitters, making them leave the batting area and go to first base. |
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
|"It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in." | |"It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in." | ||
− | + | |The other players of the team do not pitch, they wait until the batter successfully hits the ball into the field. | |
− | |The other players of the team do not pitch | ||
|- | |- | ||
|"That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!" | |"That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!" | ||
− | + | |Any {{w|Baserunning|baserunner}} (a player standing at a {{w|Baseball field|base}} waiting to run to the next base) can attempt to run to the next base when the pitcher is delivering a pitch (called {{w|Stolen base|stealing a base}}). The pitcher can throw the ball to a defense player to {{w|Tag out|tag out}} the runner before he reaches the next base. Thus, an attempt to steal a base is most successful if no one notices. | |
− | |Any {{w|Baserunning|baserunner}} (a player standing at a {{w|Baseball field|base}}) can attempt to run to the next base | ||
− | |||
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
− | |"Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that | + | |"Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that." |
− | | | + | |Successfully stealing a base, an infrequent event, usually receives a lot of cheers, especially if the offensive team is the home team. This may be a reference to [[1552: Rulebook]]. |
− | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Title text: "The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail." | |Title text: "The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail." | ||
− | | | + | |A pitcher throwing pitches that get hit too often is undesirable, and will be substituted by a {{w|Relief pitcher|relief pitcher}} who will come out of the {{w|Bullpen|bullpen}} (the area next to the playing field where relief pitchers warm up; the "thrower jail") to join the game. Substitution decisions are made by the manager of the team (the "king of the game", though this name wrongfully suggests that one "king" controls both teams). |
− | |||
|} | |} | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Beret | + | :[Beret guy is sitting with headphones with a microphone on, looking out of the frame, hands resting on a table.] |
:Beret Guy: For those just joining us, hi! We're on part 5 of a hitting game. | :Beret Guy: For those just joining us, hi! We're on part 5 of a hitting game. | ||
− | :[Zoom out with Beret | + | :[Zoom out with Beret guy shown from the side sitting at a desk.] |
:Beret Guy: The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far. | :Beret Guy: The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far. | ||
:Beret Guy: Wait - he missed! | :Beret Guy: Wait - he missed! | ||
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:Beret Guy: Rude. | :Beret Guy: Rude. | ||
− | :[Beret | + | :[Beret guy looks straight out.] |
:Beret Guy: This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them. | :Beret Guy: This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them. | ||
:Beret Guy: It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in. | :Beret Guy: It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in. | ||
− | :[Beret | + | :[Beret guy turns his head to the side.] |
:Beret Guy: ''That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!'' | :Beret Guy: ''That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!'' | ||
:Beret Guy: Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that. | :Beret Guy: Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that. | ||
:Beret Guy: Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once this game is over. | :Beret Guy: Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once this game is over. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Trivia== | ||
+ | * Even though Beret Guy speaks in simple words, his speech fails the [http://xkcd.com/simplewriter/ Thing Explainer word checker] due to the words "bat", "shelves", "wow", "rude", "teammates", "pillow", "rules", "yikes", and "hopefully". | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]] | ||
[[Category:Baseball]] | [[Category:Baseball]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Simplified language]] |