Part of my job as a baseball broadcaster is to entertain and educate. I want to inform the fans why things happen during a game and tip them off before something occurs.

Every major-league game includes unique situations, too many to cover in one column. Plus, most are not easily explained in text form. Four years ago I wrote a book called "Baseball for Dummies," which offered a complete look at every aspect of the game. Someday, however, I want to make a video on how to watch a game on TV and how to watch one in person.

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In the meantime, here is some food for thought to enhance a baseball fan's viewing experience and to dispel a few myths about the game. But the main thing is to keep watching and paying attention.

Keep an eye on the catcher
Fans at home should watch the catcher closely. From the center-field camera angle, the catcher will indicate what pitch he is calling and what will -- or should -- happen on the next pitch.

If the catcher sets up inside to any hitter, the pitch will be something hard -- either a fastball or a slider. A pitcher will stay away from throwing changeups or slow curveballs inside. For a curveball pitcher, the catcher will a lot of times set up over the middle of the plate instead of on the inside or outside corner.

Watching the catcher also allows fans to see if the pitcher is particularly sharp with his pitches. If he is sharp, he is consistently hitting the catcher's glove. He is not sharp if, for instance, the catcher is set up inside and the pitcher throws it over the middle or outside portion of the plate. The more the catcher has to move his glove, the less sharp the pitcher is.

Although a lot of pitchers do not have pinpoint control, they still have to use the inner and outer half of the plate. No matter how good a pitcher's stuff is, he will get hit if he leaves his pitches over the middle of the plate.

The Cubs' Matt Clement, who started and pitched four hitless innings Sunday against Los Angeles, was effective throwing inside to the left-handed hitters and then moving the ball away. Along with having great stuff, he was able to make quality pitches.

By watching catcher Todd Hundley's target, one could see where Clement's pitches were going, what he was trying to do, and what pitch was being called.

Don't trust the camera
The center-field camera gives viewers a false sense of how difficult it is to hit major-league pitching. TV distorts how fast the ball gets from the pitcher's hand to homeplate. The ball appears to be going much slower because the camera shows the pitch from a wider angle.

Baseball is different from other sports in one distinct way: While a team must defense a superstar out of a game in basketball, football or hockey, a great baseball player can be taken out of the game completely. It's one of baseball's weaknesses and one of the reasons I believe that baseball has drawn fewer fans and viewers.

ESPN has experimented with and used an angle from behind the hitter that better depicts how quickly the ball crosses the plate. The hitter only has a split-second to decide whether to swing or not. From the center-field camera, it seems the hitter has more time to react than he does.

TV has difficulty capturing speed in any sport, not just baseball. In a hockey game, the skaters are traveling much faster than they appear to be on the screen. But the closer you get to the action, the quicker and truer the game becomes.

Taking a dive
Fans should pay attention to where a hitter stands in the batter's box -- whether he is deep or up in the box, or close or far from the plate.

Good hitters have much in common. One is they stand close to the plate. Rarely do they stand well off the plate because they figure most pitchers are less apt to pitch inside. It makes little sense to stand far from the plate to handle an inside pitch they may never get.

Pitchers used to pitch inside more. But over the past 10 years, pitchers have developed a tendency to pitch away from hitters. With the benefit of videotape to see how they are being pitched, the hitters adjusted their style and began diving in toward the plate.

George Brett used to stand off the plate and dive in, but he wasn't diving across the plate like hitters do today. He would just stride into the middle of the batter's box. Hitting instructors began teaching hitters to go after the outside pitch. The diving-in approach has allowed hitters to beat up pitchers on balls thrown away.

But now the pitchers are making an adjustment to the hitters. The inside pitch is making a comeback, leading to more hit batters. Last year there was a record number of hit batters (1,890), compared to only 905 in 1991. When the hitter dives in, he has little chance of getting out of the way in time.

In the past, when a pitcher threw a ball under Willie Mays' chin, he would go down from under his hat to avoid being hit. Not anymore. Today's hitters will turn and let the ball hit them in the back, in the arm -- and sometimes in the helmet. Because hitters know they are more likely to get hit, they have begun wearing body armor to protect themselves.

I believe a batter should change his position in the batter's box depending on what the pitcher's best pitch is. Rod Carew used numerous stances and was all over the batter's box. But few of today's hitters are willing to change because they fear it will disrupt their timing.

If a pitcher throws a great knuckleball, the hitter should move closer to the mound to give the ball less time to dance. If he has a great curveball, changeup or sinker, he should do the same thing because each pitch has downward movement. On the other hand, if the pitcher has a 100-mph fastball, the hitter should move back a few inches to give himself more time to react.

Why stand in the same spot if the speeds are different? Why would a hitter stand in the same spot against Randy Johnson as he would against Jamie Moyer? Hitters need to have enough confidence that a move in the batter's box won't affect their timing.

Move the runners along
For announcers, players, fans, everybody, the most misunderstood game situation is the following: runners on second and third base with no outs.

Why is it misunderstood? Most people think the hitter's primary job is to drive both baserunners home. While that would be the ideal scenario, the first thought should be to score the runner from third and to move the runner from second to third.

A team can hit two groundballs (or a groundball and a flyball) and score two runs. If a team doesn't hit the ball to the right side to move the runners along, it will take a base hit to score the second run.

The situation is the same as if there were just a runner on second with no outs. As the hitter, should you drive him in or move him over? You can almost forget about the runner at third. Your job is to move the runner from second to third so he can score on a flyball or another groundout.

At the same time, a lot depends on who is hitting. The Cubs, for instance, may not want Sammy Sosa to move the runners over. Aside from the sluggers, though, the other players should be thinking about moving the runners along, not trying to drive in both with one shot.

Superstars don't guarantee championships
Baseball is different from other sports in one distinct way: While a team must defense a superstar out of a game in basketball, football or hockey, a great baseball player can be taken out of the game completely. It's one of baseball's weaknesses and one of the reasons I believe baseball has drawn fewer fans and viewers.

Last weekend against Cincinnati, Barry Bonds hit a home run in the first inning. But he never swung the bat again the rest of the game. He was walked three straight times, the final time intentionally.

Because a superstar cannot have the ball in his hands on every play, he cannot win a championship by himself. So Bonds cannot be held responsible for the Giants winning or losing because teams can take the bat out of his hands.

Ted Williams is arguably the greatest hitter who ever lived. How many World Series did he win? None. No one should devalue his greatness because the Red Sox never won a World Series during his career. The same thing applies to Bonds, Sosa, Ken Griffey and Alex Rodriguez -- four great players, zero championships.

The misguided 'Big Bang' theory
More teams are playing for the three-run home run, figuring it is the best approach to winning. But none has ever won a championship.

The New York Yankees did not win four World Series titles in five years with sluggers. In fact, in their four championship years, they never ranked higher than seventh in the majors in home runs. While they still hit their share of home runs, they won with sound, fundamental baseball -- bunting when necessary, hitting and running, stealing bases and taking the extra base.

The Oakland A's, one of the "Big Bang" teams, beat up on mediocre pitching and score a lot of runs during the regular season. In last year's playoffs, however, the Yankees' good pitching forced the A's to manufacture runs. The A's only averaged two walks a game and hit four home runs in the five-game series against the Yankees. So, even though the A's pitching was fantastic, how were they going to win without knowing how to play "small ball"?

Arizona eventually beat the Yankees at their own game in the World Series. Instead of relying on the long ball, the Diamondbacks were able to manufacture runs and pull out Game 7.

People have fallen in love with the three-run homer, and that is great. But what do teams do when it doesn't work? To win championships, teams need a Plan B -- and Arizona had one.

Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan is a baseball analyst for ESPN and writes a weekly column for ESPN.com.