Scrub baseball
Encyclopedia
Scrub baseball is a way of playing baseball
with no teams. The number of players is variable, and score is not kept, as the idea is "each against all". Batting, pitching, and fielding are the same as in standard baseball; scrub is often used as practice for baseball, or a substitute when there aren't enough players available, between six and eleven.
The game is traditionally initiated by one person yelling, "Scrubs!" to claim the first batting position. Others quickly shout, "Scrub One!", "Scrub Two!", "Scrub Three!", etc. As the number of players available increases they are divided as follows:
As in computer language, the first item - scrub - is counted as 0. When an out is made the batter moves to the highest numbered position (e.g. five = center field); five becomes four, four becomes three, three moves to two, two moves to one, and one takes a turn as batter. However, if a batted ball is caught in the air, the fielder who catches it becomes the batter.
With twelve or more players the game is generally played with two teams divided as evenly as possible. Scrub baseball is a folk game with no governing body, so the rules varied locally and from game to game, thus the table is a guide to the most common method of dividing the teams. Sandlot baseball games often started as scrub games until enough players arrived to switch to team play.
If one of the two batters reaches base, he or she must run around all the bases and score during the turn of the other. This leads to much daring base-running excitement. Sometimes the batter who reaches base returns to bat again, leaving an "automatic runner" on base. Automatic (invisible) runners advance the same number of bases as the batter does, and may be forced out.
Generally the game was called workup when there were three or four players on the batting team and everyone else in the field, with four bases in use. When one of the batters makes an out he or she joins the fielding team, the pitcher joins the hitting team, and everyone moves up a position.
In another version only one base is used, as in the 19th Century game of One Old Cat. The base is third base. The fielding positions are center field, left field, shortstop, third base, and pitcher. Two batters work together until one makes an out and is replaced. The batter on deck acts as the catcher. If no one is covering home (both batters are running), then the runner advancing homeward can be put out by throwing the ball to the plate before the runner gets there - a practice called "crossing out".
President Warren G. Harding
played scrub baseball as a boy http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Grant-Eisenhower/Harding-Warren-G.html, as did the historian Bruce Catton
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1972/3/1972_3_33.shtml, and rockabilly
singer Sonny Burgess
http://www.sonnyburgess.com/?em665=25776_-1__0_~0_-1_2_2007_0_0&content=news.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
with no teams. The number of players is variable, and score is not kept, as the idea is "each against all". Batting, pitching, and fielding are the same as in standard baseball; scrub is often used as practice for baseball, or a substitute when there aren't enough players available, between six and eleven.
The game is traditionally initiated by one person yelling, "Scrubs!" to claim the first batting position. Others quickly shout, "Scrub One!", "Scrub Two!", "Scrub Three!", etc. As the number of players available increases they are divided as follows:
| Players Available | Batting | Fielding |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | 3 | 7 |
| 11 | 4 | 8 |
| 12 | 4 | 9 |
| 13 | 5 | 9 |
As in computer language, the first item - scrub - is counted as 0. When an out is made the batter moves to the highest numbered position (e.g. five = center field); five becomes four, four becomes three, three moves to two, two moves to one, and one takes a turn as batter. However, if a batted ball is caught in the air, the fielder who catches it becomes the batter.
With twelve or more players the game is generally played with two teams divided as evenly as possible. Scrub baseball is a folk game with no governing body, so the rules varied locally and from game to game, thus the table is a guide to the most common method of dividing the teams. Sandlot baseball games often started as scrub games until enough players arrived to switch to team play.
If one of the two batters reaches base, he or she must run around all the bases and score during the turn of the other. This leads to much daring base-running excitement. Sometimes the batter who reaches base returns to bat again, leaving an "automatic runner" on base. Automatic (invisible) runners advance the same number of bases as the batter does, and may be forced out.
Generally the game was called workup when there were three or four players on the batting team and everyone else in the field, with four bases in use. When one of the batters makes an out he or she joins the fielding team, the pitcher joins the hitting team, and everyone moves up a position.
In another version only one base is used, as in the 19th Century game of One Old Cat. The base is third base. The fielding positions are center field, left field, shortstop, third base, and pitcher. Two batters work together until one makes an out and is replaced. The batter on deck acts as the catcher. If no one is covering home (both batters are running), then the runner advancing homeward can be put out by throwing the ball to the plate before the runner gets there - a practice called "crossing out".
President Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
played scrub baseball as a boy http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Grant-Eisenhower/Harding-Warren-G.html, as did the historian Bruce Catton
Bruce Catton
Charles Bruce Catton was an American historian and journalist, best known for his books on the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular histories that emphasized colorful characters and historical vignettes, in addition to the basic facts, dates, and analyses...
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1972/3/1972_3_33.shtml, and rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
singer Sonny Burgess
Sonny Burgess
Albert Austin "Sonny" Burgess is an American rockabilly guitarist and singer....
http://www.sonnyburgess.com/?em665=25776_-1__0_~0_-1_2_2007_0_0&content=news.
External links
- http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/baseball/archive/2005/05/scrub.shtml
- http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1509452
- http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/04/ball_games.php