[cowbyfan1]

1. learn the rules
1a. learn the mechanics
2. pick up baseball or softball and then wait a year or 2 to do the other. Too easy to get rules mixed up when trying to learn 2 sports at the same time, especially if they are similiar sports. Or look at baseball in the spring and fast pitch softball in the fall.
3. as stated before, do not go cheap on equipment, especially for the plate. Buy the Navy shirt first then look at red and/or powder blue as secondary. I would get atleast 2 shirts and 2 pair of pants for starters depending on how many days a week you plan on calling. If you want to stay cheap, go with combo pants as opposed to seperate base and plate pants. This way if you find you totally suck, don't like it or whatever, you will not have spent a fortune. Always easy to add on in later seasons if you love it. I personnaly use combo for my plate pants and base pants for the field. Combos look a little better to me as far as plate pants. Get a fitted hat as opposed to an adjustable.