It's Playoff Time for Baseball

This is high-intermediate content, appropriate for learners who are roughly around or above 3,000 words (moving into TOCFL Level 4 / HSK 6).

Photo by Nick Jio on Unsplash

For as popular as baseball is in the United States, it is also remarkably popular in parts of Asia, particularly South Korea, Japan, and right here in Taiwan. Although the time difference means most of the games are on in the morning, during this time of year more than a few TVs in Taiwan will be tuned to the playoffs.

This is a piece about the recent wild card game between the Cardinals and the Dodgers, and the baseball terminology that's thrown in moves it into the high-intermediate level. Take a look at those terms below:

(and PS - go Red Sox!)

棒球	bàngqiú	baseball
外卡（賽）／外卡（赛）	wài kǎ (sài)	Wild Card (game)
對手／对手	duìshǒu	opponent
連勝／连胜	liánshèng	consecutive wins
季後賽／李后赛	jìhòusài	playoffs
球迷	qiúmí	fan (for ball sports)
神奇	shénqí	amazing
局	jú	inning
上半	shàngbàn	top of, top half
打者	dǎzhě	hitter, batter
全壘打／全垒打	quánlěidǎ	homerun
出局	​chūjú	out (in baseball)
四壞球保送／四坏球保送	sìhuàiqiúbǎosòng	walk, base on balls
盜壘／盗垒	dàolěi	stolen base

Below is Traditional, followed by Simplified. Reading on Chrome? Download the handy popup dictionary extension.

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〈棒球比賽〉

上星期看了St. Louis Cardinals和Los Angeles Dodgers的外卡賽。

Dodgers今年獲得116勝，是MLB的第二名。然而，第一名是同區的San Francisco Giants，因此根據MLB的規則，Dodgers必須要打外卡賽。在外卡賽，Dodgers的對手Cardinals在九月的時候獲得17連勝，進入季後賽，所有球迷都感到非常神奇。

這一場外卡賽，到第九局都維持著1:1。九局上半，Cardinals的三位打者都想打全壘打，然而大家都失敗了。九局下半換Dodgers，兩出局的時候，Dodgers的一名打者獲得四壞球保送，接著盜壘成功。換下一個打者，這個時候，因為投手投的球不好，他打出了一支全壘打！這一支全壘打，讓Cardinals球員全部都安靜了，也讓Dodgers成功地獲得了這場外卡賽的勝利。

接著，Dodgers要面對的是同區的Giants。而Cardinals在上星期打包回家，結束了他們的神奇連勝。

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〈棒球比赛〉

上星期看了St. Louis Cardinals和Los Angeles Dodgers的外卡赛。

Dodgers今年获得116胜，是MLB的第二名。然而，第一名是同区的San Francisco Giants，因此根据MLB的规则，Dodgers必须要打外卡赛。在外卡赛，Dodgers的对手Cardinals在九月的时候获得17连胜，进入季后赛，所有球迷都感到非常神奇。

这一场外卡赛，到第九局都维持着1:1。九局上半，Cardinals的三位打者都想打全垒打，然而大家都失败了。九局下半换Dodgers，两出局的时候，Dodgers的一名打者获得四坏球保送，接着盗垒成功。换下一个打者，这个时候，因为投手投的球不好，他打出了一支全垒打！这一支全垒打，让Cardinals球员全部都安静了，也让Dodgers成功地获得了这场外卡赛的胜利。

接着，Dodgers要面对的是同区的Giants。而Cardinals在上星期打包回家，结束了他们的神奇连胜。

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