Baseball
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Baseball is a sport played with two teams. In baseball, one team throws a small round ball called a baseball and the other team tries to hit it. Teams get points by running and touching markers on the ground called "bases". Some people call baseball hardball, because there is another sport called softball.
Many people in the Americas and East Asia like baseball. In many countries, most people like baseball more than any other sport. In the United States, baseball is called the national pastime, because so many people in the United States spend a lot of time playing or watching the games. More people go to United States Major League Baseball games than go to see all the other team sports. But on TV, more people like to watch American football and car racing. In American English, "ballgame" means baseball game, but there are many other ball games.
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[edit] How to play baseball
[edit] In general
A game of baseball is played by two teams on a baseball field. Each team has nine players. There are also some people who watch everything carefully to decide what happened, and make sure everyone follows the rules. They are called umpires. There are usually four umpires in major league games. Sometimes there are up to six umpires.
On the baseball field, there are four bases. The bases are numbered counter-clockwise from the starting base. The starting base is called home plate. Home plate has five sides. First, second and third bases are 15-inch (38 cm) squares. They are higher than the ground. The four bases together make a square, called the diamond. The sides of the square are 90 feet (27.4 metres) long.
The baseball field has two main parts, the infield and the outfield. The infield is where the four bases are. The outfield is past the bases, between first and third base. First base and third base are on the foul lines, which go on into the outfield. Outside the foul lines is foul territory.
The game is played in nine steps, called innings. In an inning, each team has one turn to bat and try to score runs. When one team bats, the other team pitches and tries to put the other team's players out. The team that is pitching always has the ball. This is different from most team sports. When three players of the batting team are out, the teams change places. Then the team that was batting starts pitching, and the team that was pitching starts batting. After nine innings, the team that has the most runs is the winner. If the teams have the same number of runs, they play more innings until one team wins. At the start of the game, the home team pitches, while players on the visiting team bat. Only one player can bat at a time.
The most important part of the game is between the pitcher and the batter. The pitcher throws—pitches—the ball towards home plate. He must throw it close enough for the batter to hit. If he does not, and the batter does not swing at it, the umpire will call "ball!" After "ball four!" the batter is allowed to "walk" to first base, so it is important to pitch well.
The batter stands near home plate and tries to hit the ball with a bat. The batter must have a good aim with the bat. His job is to hit the ball so the batting team can get some runs. If he swings but does not hit the ball (even on a bad pitch) the umpire calls a "strike!". If he does not swing and the pitch is good, that is also a "strike".
The catcher for the pitcher's team waits behind the batter, to catch the ball. His job is to catch any ball that the batter does not hit. Also, the catcher tells the pitcher how to throw the ball.
The pitcher and catcher use body language and secret signals. If the pitcher does not like what the catcher says, he will "shake off" the catcher by shaking his head no. If he thinks the catcher has a good idea, he will nod his head yes. The catcher's job is sometimes very important.
Each inning, the pitching team wants to put three players from the other team out. (Other words for the pitching team are defending team and fielding team.) A player who is out must leave the field and wait for his next turn to bat.
There are many ways to get batters and runners out. Some common ways to get them out are catching a batted ball in the air, tag outs, force outs, and strikeouts. When the fielding team has put out three of the batting team's players, the half-inning is over and the team in the field and the team at bat switch places.
The batting team wants to score runs. In order to score a run, a player must bat, then become a base runner, touch all the bases in order, and then touch home plate. So first, the batter wants to make other players get to home plate, or to run the bases himself. The batter tries to hit the ball between the foul lines, so that the fielding team cannot get anyone out. The pitcher tries to pitch the ball so that the batter cannot hit it well.
A baserunner who touches home plate after touching all previous bases in order scores a run. When there is a fence around the field, when the batter hits the ball over the fence it is a home run. After the batter hits a home run, the batter and all the runners can touch all the bases and score.
[edit] Fielding team
The team in the field tries not to let the team at bat get any runs. The fielding team has a pitcher, who stands on the mound, and a catcher, who squats behind home plate. This pair is often called the battery. The remaining seven fielders may stand anywhere in the field. However, usually four infielders stand at the edge of the infield. Three outfielders stand in the outfield.
The pitcher throws the ball toward home plate. The pitcher tries to throw well and get the batter out. Pitchers also try to get runners out. Pitchers try to catch batted balls and cover bases (for a tag out or force out). The catcher tries to catch the ball if the batter does not hit it. Together with the pitcher and coaches, the catcher decides how the team will play. The catcher does this by telling the pitcher how to throw and telling the other players on the team where to stand. Catchers also responsible try to catch the ball and get runners out near home plate.
The four infielders are the first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, and third baseman. The first baseman and third baseman stand close to first base and third base. The second baseman and the shortstop stand on either side of second base.
The first baseman's job is to make force plays at first base. In a force play, another infielder catches a ball that has touched the ground, and throws it to the first baseman. The first baseman must then touch the batter with the ball before the batter can touch first base. Then the batter is out. The first baseman also tries to catch balls which the batter hits near first base, but this does not happen very often. Because the first baseman does not usually need to catch well, teams often make their strongest hitter their first baseman. The second baseman's job is to cover the area to the right of second base and to back the first baseman up. The shortstop's job is to cover the area between second and third bases. This is where right-handed batters usually hit ground balls. The shortstop also covers second or third base and the near part of left field. Because the shortstop's job is very hard, the shortstop is not usually a good batter. The third baseman needs to have a strong throwing arm. This is because many times the batter will hit a ball toward third base. The third baseman must throw the ball very quickly to the first baseman, to get the runner out. Because the balls that go to third base are usually hit very hard, the third baseman must also be very quick.
The three outfielders are called the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder, because they stand in left field, center field and right field. Left field and right field are on the left and right sides, if you look out from home plate. Center field is straight ahead from home plate. Center field is very big, so the center fielder must be able run very fast and throw very hard. So the center fielder does not need to be a great batter. Also, the center fielder tells the left fielder and right fielder where to go. The center fielder usually decides who should catch fly balls.
The team can decide where to put the infielders and outfielders. Players often shift their positioning because of how the game is going. They may change positions at any time.
[edit] Pitching
Good pitching is very important to a baseball team. If the pitcher does a good job, the batting team cannot score any runs. But pitching is also very hard. Each team usually throws more than one hundred pitches in a game. Most pitchers get tired before the end of the game. Teams often need more than one pitcher in a game. The first pitcher is called the starting pitcher; the other pitchers are called the bullpen. The bullpen is really where pitchers get ready before they play.
Teams can change pitchers. A team can use as many pitchers as it wants to. The ways that a pitcher throws the ball are called pitches. Most pitchers use two or more different pitches. Pitchers change their pitches so that the batter cannot hit the ball. They can make the ball move differently: faster or slower, closer or further from the batter. this called the "break or off-speed" pitch known as a cureball or change-up.
there are many types of break/offspeed pitches, such as slurve, curve, slider, splitter, sinker, screw, 2-seam cut, 2-seam screw, knuckle, knuckle curve, change-up, circle change-up, plam ball and there are very many more.
When throwing the ball, the pitcher must touch the pitcher's rubber with his foot. The pitcher's rubber is on top of the mound. So the pitcher cannot take more than one step forward when he throws the ball. That makes the pitcher throw the ball more slowly. But a good major-league pitcher can throw the ball up to ninety miles per hour (145 km/h). Throwing a baseball that fast is bad for the body. Pitchers get a lot of injuries, so baseball teams always have many pitchers.
[edit] The batting team
The batting team wants to score runs. The team at bat sends its players up to home plate in a certain order. This order is called the lineup. Each team chooses its lineup at the beginning of the game. After that, the team may not change the order. But it can change a player for a new player, who was not on the lineup. The new player takes the same place in the lineup as the other player did. After the ninth player has batted, the order returns to the beginning with the first player in the lineup. If a runner comes to home plate, he scores a run. Then he is not a base runner. After scoring a run, the player must leave the field until it is his turn again. So a player can only score one run for each time he bats.
Since the people began to have more leisure time baseball has been seen as the national pastime of America. In the United States currently about 12 Million people play baseball.
[edit] Post-season
There is a special set of games called the World Series, where the champions of the American League and the National League play baseball to see who is the best team in baseball.
