German batball

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German Batball is a fictional sport from the Kurt Vonnegut novel "The Sirens of Titan." It is the favorite game of Winston Niles Rumfoord.

[edit] Rules

The rules of the game are very similar to that of baseball. Like baseball, there are two teams, one of which must hit a ball and run bases to accumulate points. However, in German batball, the ball is played with a "flabby ball the size of a big honeydew melon. The ball is no more lively than a ten-gallon hat filled with rain water." Also, unlike baseball, there are only three bases, instead of four. In German batball, the offensive player is not pitched to, but he places the ball on one fist, and strikes the ball with his other fist. After the ball is struck, the offensive players attempts to round the bases. The defensive players attempt to peg the runner with the ball in between the bases.

[edit] Popularity on Mars

German batball is the only sport played on Vonnegut's version of a human-colonized Mars. This is because Winston Niles Rumfoord, an avid fan of the game, set up this colony on Mars, and established all of its rules. He is quoted as saying "I am at a loss to understand why German batball is not an event, possibly a key event, in the Olympic Games." In Martian schools, students spend the vast majority of the time playing German batball, instead of studying. Chrono, the son of Malachi Constant, the main character of The Sirens of Titan, is the best German batball player on Mars.