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Baseball Clubs to Play Scheduled Training Fixtures

Baseball clubs typically shake off the doldrums of a long winter beginning in the middle of March, by undertaking a rigorous training schedule to put them in the top physical shape they need for the long slog (not to be confused with a long cricket slog) through the season, which now stretches across five months and encompasses a exhausting 114 matches to complete a Baseball League campaign. Top non-League loops play between 77 and 90 matches, but no less require a physical condition for their players that far exceeds that of the average Briton.

In previous years, such training consisted of calisthenics, gymnastics and military drilling, with a simulation of baseball games achieved through specific exercises to hone specific skills. However, nothing can take the place of real competition to strengthen the body and sharpen the eye and reflexes to the degree necessary to play at full capacity in early May as well as on any day in July or August.

To accomplish such a goal, the clubs of the Baseball League have agreed to a schedule of friendly match fixtures with one another whilst in training, to commence in April and to continue on up to the first day of the season. The games will take place on various pitches throughout England and not necessarily on the grounds that each club occupies during the season. The general public may attend as they are able, although they should not expect to see the top competition they are used to seeing in season, not at the outset at least. The weather may be the deciding factor as to whether the friendly games are even played, given that the vagaries of April could yield any one of a number of potential meteorological results, ranging from the sublime (e.g., a pleasant and mild 65 degrees Fahrenheit) to the torturous (e.g., a raw, windy and chilly 35.)

Despite this possibility, it has been deemed preferable by the League board and their respective club members that the richly compensated baseballers suffer whatever discomforts they might in the service of providing the highest quality product to a British public increasingly hungry for good baseball by playing skilful friendly games, rather than said baseballers performing stars jumps and sprint races without facing live competition until the bell rings on the 1st of May.