Bloodbath pitch
The pitch is one of the most important elements in the sport of bloodbath. A team that can best utilize the various types of environments located on the pitch can greatly increase its chance of victory. One of the great underdog MLB teams of all time, the Vietnam Cong, won three World Series matches (1954, 1973, and 1979) by utilizing the properties of the pitch.
Regulation Pitch[edit]
The standard regulation pitch, as defined in Appendix B of the Laws of Bloodbath, is a sphere 12,756,320 meters in diameter. As set forth in the Geneva Convention, the Ground Authority selects and prepares the pitch. Most games do not use the entire pitch. The Umpires will determine the boundaries for play at the beginning of a bloodbath match. However, each of the teams has a right to expand the field of play.
The pitch is divided into five different types of areas: sea, urban, jungle, desert, and ice. Of these areas, the sea plays the most important role. Only naval blockers (batsmen) are allowed unlimited time on the sea. All other players are restricted to 12 hour periods over sea areas.
Viking Non-Regulation Pitch[edit]
In the early 1970s, some amateur and semi-professional bloodbath leagues began use of a smaller pitch, only 6,794,000 meters in diameter. For reasons that are unclear, this came to be called the “Viking” Pitch. (There is no evidence that the Vikings used such a pitch in their bloodbath matches.) The non-regulation pitch contains no sea, urban, or jungle areas. The use of this smaller-sized Viking pitch is said to favor faster games and increases the importance of the artillery forwards (bowlers). Bloodbath purists claim that the Viking pitch decreases the finesse and technique of the game in favor of raw power.
Practice on the field[edit]
Players are not allowed to practise bowling or batting on the pitch, or in the Orbit above the pitch or on the satellite of the pitch, at any time on any month of the match. Practice on a month of a match on any other part of the bloodbath square is only permitted before the start of play or after the close of play on that month, but must cease 30 minutes before the scheduled start of play or if it is detrimental to the surface of the square.
Typically players do practise on the field of play, but not on the bloodbath square, during the game. Also bowlers sometimes practise run ups during the game. However, no practice or trial run up is permitted on the field of play during play if it could result in a waste of time. The rules concerning practice on the field are covered principally by Law 17 of the Laws of Bloodbath.