Baseball
棒球运动
对话 Dialogue
Hello baseball fans, and welcome back to today’s game! My name is Rick Fields and of course, I am here, once again, with the man that seals the deal, Bob Copeland.
各位棒球迷大家好，欢迎回到今天的比赛！我是里克·菲尔兹，当然，我再次和那位关键先生鲍勃·科普兰一起为大家解说。
It’s a beautiful day to see two world class teams face each other and fight for their right to be called champions.
今天真是个美好的日子，两支世界顶级球队将在这里正面交锋，争夺冠军的荣耀。
Well, the national anthem has just been sung, and the umpire has started the game. It’s time to play ball!
国歌刚刚奏唱完毕，裁判已经宣布比赛开始。开球啦！
Roger Vargas is up at bat. The pitcher winds up and strike one!
罗杰·巴尔加斯上场打击。投手准备投球，第一好球！
A very nice curve ball by the pitcher. The catcher gives him the sign, he winds up and Vargas gets a line drive!
投手投出了一记漂亮的曲线球。捕手给出暗号，投手准备，巴尔加斯打出了一个平飞球！
The players are scrambling to get the ball. Vargas gets to first base and he’s still going! The outfielder throws it to second! Vargas slides! He’s safe!
球员们都在争抢这个球。巴尔加斯跑上一垒，他还在继续！外野手把球传向二垒！巴尔加斯滑垒！安全上垒！
Great play!
精彩的表现！
We have a runner on third and up at bat is Brian Okami! There’s the pitch, he hits it! It’s going, going, that ball is gone!
三垒有人，现在上场打击的是布莱恩·冈上！投球来了，他挥棒击出！球飞出去了，飞出去了，全垒打！
Home run by Okami! That puts this team ahead by two as we are at the bottom of the fifth inning here at Richie Stadium!
冈上击出全垒打！这使得球队领先两分，目前比赛进行到里奇体育场第五局下半场。
完整节目 Full Program
Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.
And I’m Erica.
And today we’re bringing you another lesson on our sports series.
Uhu. We’re talking about baseball today.
Baseball – the American national pastime. [NOTE: pastime = an activity or entertainment that makes time pass pleasantly]
Is it?
Yes, it is.
Okay.
So, we’re gonna be looking at this interesting sport that is played mainly in the Caribbean and, well, it’s actually very popular in the United States and Japan.
That’s right.
Korea.
Yeah. So, we’re not only gonna learn a bunch of baseball language, but we’re also going to see how baseball has a big influence on English in general. [NOTE: a bunch of something = a lot of something]
That’s right, so, we’re gonna learn a lot of great things today. So, why don’t we start and listen to our dialogue?
Alright, well, a pretty exiting game there at Richie Stadium
Exactly, and we have some interesting players: Roger Vargas and Brian Okami.
Uhu.
Alright, so, well, we saw some great words and, well, it’s time for us to take a look at them now in “language takeaway”. Voice: Language takeaway.
Okay, we’re gonna look at some, uh, common sports and baseball words here. And the first phrase – we’ll hear this almost at any sort of international sports event, right?
Exactly, and it’s the national anthem.
National anthem.
National anthem.
So, this is a song, right?
Exactly, it’s the song that you sing about your country. And many people confuse it, right?
Yeah, a lot of people might say “national hymn”.
Okay, hymn. Because in some languages it might be like a hymn.
Uhu.
Like literally translating.
Yeah
But in English it’s called the national anthem.
The national anthem.
Alright. So, what about our next word?
Well, we were talking about the pitcher.
Pitcher.
P-I-T-C-H-E-R.
The pitcher.
Pitcher.
Okay, and now this is one of the players on a baseball team. And his job is to…
To throw the ball.
To throw the ball really fast.
So that the guy can’t hit it with the bat.
Okay, so, that’s the pitcher.
Uhu.
Now, the interesting thing is that the baseball commentator said “the pitcher winds up”.
Winds up.
To wind up
To wind up. Okay, well, let me paint you a picture.
Okay.
So, imagine a clock.
Aha.
And you’re turning, turning and turning the clock to wind it up, to get it ready to go.
To make it work.
Exactly.
Uhu.
So, imagine the pitcher doing the same sort of a thing – bringing his arm back behind them, getting ready to throw the ball.
Okay, so, that is to wind up.
Uhu.
Very good. So, you can use this word not only in baseball, but for other things that require you to do this action.
Right, to turn something and get it… get it ready to have lots of power.
Like some toys.
Yeah.
Or maybe like a m… a music box.
Uhu.
Okay, wind up. What about our next phrase?
Well, Roger Vargas hit a line drive.
Line drive.
Line drive.
Okay, so, what is a line drive?
Well, it’s a term from baseball and when you hit a line drive, you hit the ball sort of low…
Uhu.
On towards the ground and it… it travels along the outside of the field.
Right, so, the ball basically travels along the foul line.
Uhu, the white line.
The white line.
Yeah.
Exactly. Very good, so, that’s a line drive.
And, so, the players on the field were scrambling to get the ball.
Scrambling.
Scrambling.
Now, we know scrambled eggs form one of our lessons.
Yes, uh, but the verb to scramble means to, um, move quickly in a disorganized way to do something.
Okay, so, the players are moving very fast, trying to get the ball, but they’re not dong it very well.
Right. And you can use this other ways, right? Not just in baseball.
Right, for example, we can say “the people are scrambling to buy their tickets for the concert”.
Yeah, or I’m going on vacation tomorrow and I’m scrambling to get everything ready.
Exactly, it’s a very good term that you can use also in your daily life.
Exactly.
Alright. And what about our last word for today on language takeaway?
Well, they were in the fifth inning of the game.
Okay, so, inning.
Inning.
Inning.
Alright, this is another baseball term.
Uhu.
And, um, it… it just means the period of play.
Okay, so, we learned, for example, that in soccer you have two halves.
Uhu. Or in hockey, you have three periods.
Alright. And in baseball you have nine innings.
Okay, great, so, some interesting sports and baseball vocabulary. Now, I think it’ll help us to hear this again slower. So, let’s listen to the dialogue. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)
Alright, so, as we said, there’re a lot of English terms that come form baseball, but we use them in business context or in your daily life, right?
Yeah, why don’t we look at those now in “fluency builder”? Voice: Fluency builder.
Alright, so, the first phrase that we have is up to bat.
Up to bat.
Up to bat.
So, literally in this dialogue it means the guy is standing on home plate ready to hit the ball, right?
Right. He has the bat and he’s ready to hit it.
But what about in other contexts?
So, for example, you can be at a meeting.
Uhu.
And maybe it’s your turn to talk.
So, you’re up to bat.
So, the b… yeah, exactly. Your boss will say “okay, Erica, you’re up to bat”.
Okay, so, it means sort of like it’s your tern.
It’s your turn.
Yeah.
Very good.
Uhu.
Alright, so, that’s another term that is used in baseball, but very commonly used in other circumstances.
So, we also saw, um, in the dialogue that Roger Vargas, um… he hit the ball, but he missed and that was strike one.
Right. Strike one.
Uhu.
So, in baseball you have three strikes.
Three tries.
Three tries before you’re out.
Yes.
And, so, now the same thing happens in daily life.
So, um, if someone says “that was strike one”.
It means you made the first mistake.
Yes, and if you make two more, you will be fired, for example.
Maybe.
Yeah.
Aha. Or maybe your parents will say “okay, you… that wasn’t nice, strike one”.
And then two more times and you’ll have a time out. [NOTE: a time out = sort of a punishment when a child must stop playing for a while]
Or you’ll be grounded. [NOTE: to be grounded = sort of a punishment when a child must stay home for a certain period of time; i.e. they can’t go out and hang out with their friends]
Yes.
Okay, so, that’s also called a strike. And the pitcher threw a curve ball.
A curve ball.
Curve ball.
So, okay, pretty clear. A curve ball is when you throw the ball and it sort of goes on a curve, it doesn’t goes straight, right?
Right, exactly.
But how can this be used outside of baseball?
So, you can say “oh, my boss threw me a curve ball today”.
So, he gave you an unexpected problem.
Aha, or something that was difficult to handle.
Okay, um, this one is pretty interesting. I’d like to hear a few more examples. Voice: Example one.
My boss threw me a curve ball today, so I have to stay in work late. Voice: Example two.
It was a huge curve ball when she asked me how many kids I wanted to have. How am I supposed to know?
Alright, so, that’s basically a curve ball. You can say a non-expected problem…
Yeah.
Or situation.
That’s right.
And our last phrase - and, well, probably one that’s you already know – home run.
A home run.
A home run.
From baseball we know that that’s when you hit the ball really far.
And you hit it outside of the… of the playing area or outside the park.
Yes.
And now if you use it a business context or in your daily life…
Uhu. It means something similar. Why don’t we take a listen to the examples and see if we can figure it our. Voice: Example one.
Great job on that sales presentation. You really hit a home run. Voice: Example two.
Our sales team hit a home run this month by doubling our revenue.
Okay, so, basically, a home run is a success.
A victory.
A victory.
Yeah, something a big accomplishment.
That’s right. So, we’ve seen a lot of these great phrases and as you can see a lot of them from baseball are used in your daily life and there many, many more.
Okay, well, why don’t we hear them again in the baseball context and we listen to the dialogue one more time?
Alright, so, an interesting dialogue; a very interesting sport.
Uhu.
And, well, personally I never played this as a child.
Uh, me neither, really.
I don’t really like it too much, but it is kind of fun to… go to a game and especially in the United States have those hot dogs and all that stuff.
Okay, yeah.
Hehe.
Well, a cultural event; a really important piece of American culture.
Exactly. So, well, we encourage you to come to our website englishpod.com; tell us what you think and also, of course, if you have questions or doubts, be sure to tell us.
If you have any other sort of baseball-related phrases, let us know about them on the website.
Okay, so, we’ll see you guys there.
Thanks for downloading and until next time… Good bye!
Bye!
复习 Review
The EnglishPod audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Ranking with the best in the whole world.
World class.
The song that represents a country and that is played in ceremonies.
National anthem.
A person who controls and judges a baseball game.
Umpire.
Get ready to hit the ball.
Up at bat.
Get the energy to throw the ball.
Wind up.
A ball thrown on a curve, not straight, that is hard to hit.
Curve ball.
The player who throws the ball to the batter.
Pitcher.
The player behind home plate who catches the ball without being hit.
Catcher.
A hit that travels low along the baseline.
Line drive.
Do something quickly and in a disorganized way.
Scramble.
A player who plays in the area that is relatively far from the pitch.
Outfielder.
Successfully gets to the base.
Safe.
A hit that strikes the ball out of the field.
Home run.
A set of baseball containing a turn at bat and a turn in field for each side.
Inning.
The next in line to do something.
Up to bat.
An approximate number.
Ballpark figure.
To do something very well or very successfully.
Hit it out of the park.
Immediately without delay.
Off the bat.
An unusual, crazy or eccentric person.
Screw ball.
Let's try that faster.
Immediately without delay.
Off the bat.
The song that represents a country and that is played in ceremonies.
No anthem.
The player behind home plate who catches the ball without being hit.
Catcher.
Get ready to hit the ball.
Up at bat.
A ball thrown on a curve.
Not straight.
That is hard to hit.
Curve ball.
An approximate number.
Up at bat.
To do something very well or very successfully.
Hit it out of the park.
A hit that strikes the ball out of the field.
Home run.
Ranking with the best in the whole world.
World class.
Do something quickly and in a disorganized way.
Scramble.
A player who plays in the area that is relatively far from the pitch.
Outfielder.
The next in line to do something.
Up to bat.
A set of baseball containing a turn at bat and a turn in field for each side.
Inning.
A hit that travels low along the baseline.
Line drive.
An unusual, crazy or eccentric person.
Screw ball.
Successfully gets to the base.
Safe.
The player who throws the ball to the batter.
Pitcher.
A person who controls and judges a baseball game.
Umpire.
Get the energy to throw the ball.
Wind up.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
World class.
That was a world class performance that the actors displayed tonight.
World class.
We are building a world class management team.
World class.
Our company aspires to be world class leaders in IT development curve ball.
My boss threw me a curve ball today, so I have to stay and work late curve ball.
That was a huge curve ball when she asked me how many kids I wanted to have.
How am I supposed to know?
Curve ball.
I have been thrown so many curve balls this month with this new project.
I can't take it anymore.
Great job on that sales presentation.
You really hit a home run.
Our sales team hit a home run this month by doubling our revenue.
Janice hit a home run today with her great dissertation on consumer psychology.
Our team is ahead by five points.
We are going to win.
That runner is ahead of everyone else by more than two minutes.
Our sales team is ahead by more than $1,000 on this month's target sales.
Scramble.
I woke up late today and had to scramble to work as fast as I could.
When Mike's cat got lost, we all scrambled around the neighborhood looking for him.
Scramble.
I saw a mouse in the kitchen but he scrambled under the stove before I could catch it.