Super Baseball 2020

In the future, baseball is a strange and different game, as this video demonstrates:

Knowing nothing about "bases ball," I found this a valuable opportunity to learn the basics of this popular sport. This is what I learned about baseball from 2020 Super Baseball:

To get a strike, you must throw a ball over the goal, which I later learned is called the "plate." If you miss the goal, it is a ball. Balls are great, and if you collect all four, you get a free run! More on runs in a second.

However, the main purpose of the game is to destroy the other team. This can be done by striking them with the ball, which is called "hit by a pitch." When you hit someone with a "pitch," the flying red cross robot compresses you to a singularity. Later, it deposits you at a base. Once you damage one of the human players on your opponent's team sufficiently, they are replaced with a robot. This is of course a metaphor for American concern over Japanese mastery of business and high-tech in the 80's.

Robots, once destroyed, are removed from the game forever.

The team who is batting has only one defense. This is to hit the ball. If you hit it so it flies away behind you into the forbidden zone, or into the fleshpile that observes the games, it is considered "foul." This name, no doubt derived from the fetid nature of the fleshpile that resides there.

Hitting it straight ahead is a home run. Otherwise, your character has to run, which might result in a point.

Running is difficult because the other team will usually catch the ball, which results in an out. If you can't kill the other team, it results in a tie, where the winner is decided by points. As mentioned before, running enables you to earn points, which will break a tie in your favor.

(If you watch, this is how I lost in the video above.)

An important tactical consideration for those who will take the "running" route is the seating and restaurant areas in the stadium. By hitting the ball into these areas you can gain valuable seconds during which the opposing team can't grab the ball till it rolls back into the field.

Update: I've just been informed that points are called runs.

In baseball, due to union-related button shortages, women are only issued 20% of the button ration that men get. This naturally makes the game much better. See photo.

Land mines, which in the future are called crackers, also come into play. The umpire has the option at any point to fill the field with flashing death devices. If you notice, the field becomes increasingly filled with mines over the course of the game in the video.

In conclusion, Super Baseball is awesome. I cannot wait to learn more about its predecessor, modern-day baseball.