_Baseball,Fever

　　 If you want to know about American culture, baseball is a good place to start. Brought by immigrants to North America, baseball was widely recognized in the late 19th century as the national sport of the United States. There’re a number of colloquial[口语的] phrases and American slang generated from baseball.
　　Like the NBA, the professional baseball teams, also known as Major League Baseball (MLB), play every year. The regular game season starts in April and lasts six months. MLB certainly has the longest season among other American professional sports.
　　I am not a sports fan, but one of my favorite pastimes[消遣，娱乐] is watching a live baseball game in a ballpark[棒球场]. You have to be patient for a baseball game because you never know how many innings[一局（棒球）] the game will have, and the tactics[战术] of both teams vary all the time. I remember one time when I was going through the tedious[乏味的] waiting for an action in the diamond-shaped field, I was distracted. Just at that moment, the home team hit a homerun[全垒打]. It happened so fast, like lightning. I only saw the fans standing, clapping, shouting and cheering loud and proud. A snippet[片段] of rock& roll music blasted throughout the ballpark. Only when these noises hit my eardrum[耳膜] did I ask my American friends, regretfully, “what happened?” But it was too late. I had missed the best part!
　　Another part of an MLB game worth mentioning is the seven-inning stretch[第七局伸展活动]. You won’t find this part in a televised game, either. It is a tradition that takes place in the middle of the seventh inning. Fans generally stand up and stretch out their arms and legs while singing the classic “[2]Take Me out to the Ball Game.” As I’m a baseball outsider[外行], this is the highlight of my baseball game experience. Baseball can really be musically entertaining!
　　注：
　　[1] “The Star-Spangled Banner” 《星条旗永不落》，美国国歌
　　[2] “Take Me out to the Ball Game” 《带我去看棒球赛》，由Jack Norworth和Albert Von Tilzer共同创造，尽管两人从未在现场看过棒球赛，但这首歌曲却成了棒球场上的名曲，传统上会在第七局伸展活动中播放这首歌曲。