Baseball

Baseball is a sport in which two teams, which normally consist of 9 players per team, compete for 9 innings with the goal of scoring the most points, known as runs. The game originated in the United States in the mid-1800's and is known in America as the "national passtime." The game has become popular internationally and is an Olympic sport.

Rules

The goal of the game is to score the most runs by the end of the game. In the event of a tie, additional innings are played until there is a winner. In each inning a team is given 3 outs. An out occurs: (1) when a ball that is hit in play is caught in the air, (2) when a ball that is hit on the ground beats a runner to a base, or (3) if a batter swings and misses 3 pitches. The field of play in baseball consists of an infield and an outfield. The infield has 3 bases and a home plate. Play starts at home plate. The opposing pitcher throws the ball toward home plate where the batter tries to put the ball into play. When the ball is put into play, the batter tries to advance to 1st base. If the batter gets to first base before the opposing team can throw the ball there and secure it, then he is safe. If the opposing team throws and secures the ball before the batter arrives at first base, then the batter is called out. The idea for the offensive (batting) team is to continue around the basepath in a counterclockwise motion and get to each base (1st, 2nd & 3rd) without getting thrown out or tagged out. The final touch is to make it back to home plate without getting thrown out or tagged out. Once a batter crosses home plate, the offensive team is awarded a run. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.

History

Origins

Baseball can trace it's origins back to the English stick and ball games of cricket and rounders, arriving in America with the early colonists. Baseball mythology attributes the creation of the game to Abner Doubleday in 1839, who is said to have come up with the rules and the name "baseball" during a game of "town ball" in Cooperstown, New York. However, it can be more accurately attributed to Alexander Cartwright. In 1845, at the urging of Cartwright, a group of young gentlemen from Manhattan formerly organized themselves as the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club. At the time, baseball had no standard set of rules and could be played differently from game to game. The Knickerbockers developed the first formal set of rules for the game, including establishing foul lines, the strikeout, and runners now were to be tagged or thrown out instead of being thrown at. The Knickerbockers played their first game on July 19, 1846 at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, against the New York Base Ball Club, losing by a score of 23 to 1.

Stats

Baseball is a sport of statistics with records kept for every facet of a players career from batting average to innings pitched. The all time leaders in areas such as home runs and strikeouts are revered by fans of all teams.