Ian throws the plastic ball, and his brother swings and clips it with the red bat. The ball doesn’t go very far.

“That wasn’t a good throw,” declares his brother. “So it’s called a ball.” He kicks it toward the middle of the yard.

“How many of those do you get?”

“Four,” says his brother, hesitantly. “Then… I get a ghost runner on first. The other ones go to third and fourth.”

Ian’s positive there wasn’t a fourth base when they started, but he got out for missing it last time. He picks up the white ball out of the dirt.