Rounders

This past Friday evening, I played Rounders with a group of British people (and some French).

Rounders is a game similar to baseball, but much simpler. I was told it is a typical British schoolyard game.

There are two teams, one bats and the other fields. There is a bowler (pitcher), catcher, and the rest of the team play the field. The field has no boundaries. There are four posts (bases) in the field.

The ball is smaller than a baseball and fairly soft. You can catch it with bare hands without any problem. The bats are about 2 feet long, made of wood, and are very lightweight. This makes it difficult to really smash the ball, although it is possible to hit it fairly far if struck just right.

The object is for the batting team to score as many "rounders" as possible before all of the batting team's players get "out." You score a "rounder" when you are able to run around all 4 posts without the fielding team stopping you by getting you out or getting the ball to a post in front of you (like baseball). You get out by having a ball you hit caught (like baseball), or when one of the fielders tags a post with the ball before you reach it. Once a player is out, they are done batting. When all the batters on a team are out, the teams switch (fielders go to bat, batters go to field).

Unlike baseball, you don't have to hit the ball before running. Once the bowler (pitcher) throws the ball, play starts. If the batter swings and misses, they still must attempt to run around the posts. If you are stopped at a post (on base), you can start running as soon as the ball leaves the pitcher's hands.

Also unlike baseball, there are no foul balls, home runs, ground rule doubles, strikes, etc. Since there are no foul balls you can attempt to hit the ball anywhere, though it is pretty difficult to hit it directly left, right, or behind you. Once the ball is hit, its up to the fielders to get to it and stop the batter from scoring. Since there are no ground rule doubles or home runs, if the batter can hit the ball over the barb wire fence and electric fence that is next to the field we played on, they are pretty much guaranteed to score a rounder.

I mention this because while I was playing in the field, a guy crushed the ball to far left field, it hit the ground and bounced over the fence. As I ran towards the ball, for a split second I thought about hurdling the fence, and grabbing the ball, but I stopped because I probably would have hurt myself. The barb wire didn't bother me as much as the electric fencing. So as I tried to decide how to best get over the fence, a very, very enthusiastic team mate came running towards me, hopped over the fence, grabbed the ball, and threw it back into play, shocking himself in the process.

The toughest part of the game for me to understand prior to playing was how the scoring works. You can only score by running around all the posts in one shot. However, you can stop at a post, wait until the next pitch is made, and run around the remaining posts eventually reaching the fourth one (home). This DOES NOT score a "rounder," but instead allows you to bat again because you were never got out.

It was a lot of fun and I plan on playing next week.

Anyone can show up and play. Everyone there was very nice. There were about 14 adults and 10 kids playing.

There is a National Rounders Association http://www.nra-rounders.co.uk/ . The website doesn't work very well and surprisingly I couldn't find a link to a list of rules.

Another site with information:

http://www.letsplayrounders.com/

And another:

http://www.roundersonline.net/

So, if you are reading this, and can make it to Asnieres sur Blour on a Friday Night at 19:00 (7PM), you are welcome to come play. It's a very small town. Look for the large open field with a parking lot close to the town center.

http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=q&hl=fr&geocode=&q=Asnieres+sur+Blour

Send me an email for more information.