Baseball Home|Baseball Basics|Baseball History |Major League Baseball|Baseball Clothing & Apparel
Baseball Memorabilia|Baseball Books |Baseball Movies|Baseball Equipment
Baseball Basics
Baseball Style Baseball Team Play Pitching & Batting Rules & Personnel Coaching Books

Playing the game of baseball

Baseball is a team sport, popular in the Americas and East Asia. In the United States, it was for many years the "national sport," though American football is now more popular among spectators. In its usual form, the game is between two teams of nine players on a playing field consisting of 4 bases, arranged in a diagonal square ("the diamond") and a large outfield. The standard layout is shown in the diagram below:

The playing field

The starting point for much of the action on the field is home plate, which is a white rubber pentagon seventeen inches wide. Next to each of the two parallel sides is a batter's box. The point of the pentagon is at one corner of a ninety-foot square. The other three corners of the square, in counterclockwise order from home plate, are called first base, second base, and third base. Three canvas bags twelve inches square mark the three bases.

The lines from home plate to first and third bases are extended infinitely and are called the foul lines. The quarter of the universe between the foul lines is fair territory; the other three-quarters of the universe is foul territory. The area in the vicinity of the square formed by the bases is called the infield; fair territory outside the infield is the outfield. Most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is usually set at a distance ranging from 300 to 400 feet from home plate.

In the middle of the square is a low mound called the pitcher's mound. There is a rubber plate, called the pitcher's rubber, six inches wide and two feet long, on the mound, exactly sixty feet six inches (60' 6'') from home plate. This distance is due to a clerical error. When it was decided that the distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound should be increased from 50'00'' to 60'00'' from the point of home plate, the builders read the last 0 as a 6.

Baseball Diamond

Play of the Game

As the game starts, the home team takes the field, while the visitors come to bat. After making three outs, the visitors take the field and the home team bats. The basic contest is always between the pitcher, who tries to throw the ball so it cannot be cleanly hit, and the batter, who tries to hit the pitched ball with a rounded bat. If the batter hits a "fair ball" into the field of play, the hitter runs to first base and any of his teammates who are already "on the bases" may attempt to advance to another base. There are four bases, named in counterclockwise order, first base, second base, third base and home base or home plate. Baserunners must always progress in order from first base to second, third, and then home, touching each base along the way, in order to score a run. If a baserunner is already on first base, they must try to advance or the batter will be out; no two offensive players may ever stay on the same base.

If the ball is caught before it bounces, or the ball is fielded and thrown to a base before a runner arrives there, the player is out, and must return to his team's dugout. The initial decision to make first base 90 feet from home plate was an inspired one; it means that no runner, no matter how fast, can beat the throw to first of a ball cleanly fielded and properly thrown to first by a fielder in proper position. But if the fielder is out of position, or hesitates, or throws wide of the base, the play is often razor-close, and quite exciting.

There is also an imaginary area above "home plate" (where the batter stands) between the batter's knees and chest called the "strike zone". (Actually the "strike zone" varies a good bit depending on the league level of the teams and is relatively frequently re-defined by league rules makers.) Any pitch which passes through this area is a "strike", as is any pitch at which the batter swings and misses. If a batter records 3 strikes before putting the ball in play, he is out - called a strikeout. (An exception is if the third strike evades the catcher but this rarely occurs.) Any pitch which is not a strike is called a Ball. A batter who receives 4 balls from a pitcher may walk to first base and cannot be tagged out. This is called a "walk." A batter may also move to first base if he is struck by a pitched ball, unless he puts himself in the path of the pitch and makes no attempt to avoid being struck. In addition, if a player does make contact with the ball but does not hit a fair ball, this is called a foul ball. Whether a ball hit is fair or foul is defined by two lines at a right angle, drawn to the side of the diamond, and by two poles, located to the left and the right of the outfield. Also, anytime the player hits the ball backward and it leaves the play area, this is called a foul. Fouls also count as strikes, unless the player has two strikes already when hitting the foul, in which case the player must go at bat for one more turn. If a foul ball is caught by a defensive player before it bounces, then the hitter is out.

After three outs (a "half-inning") the roles of the fielding and hitting sides are reversed. Usually, nine innings are played. The aim of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team. If both teams have scored the same number of runs at the end of 9 innings (7 in high school and college), an extra inning is added to the game. If the score remains tied, another inning is added. This process repeats until the score is no longer tied at the end of an inning. Thus, the team which hits in the second (or "bottom") half of the inning always has a chance to respond to a run scored by the team batting in the first (or "top") half. As there are tactical advantages to this, the home team is always granted the right to bat in the bottom half of the inning.

In the American Major Leagues, baseball games end with tie scores only because conditions (e.g. severe weather) have made it impossible to continue play. Games in which the score is tied are not counted towards a team's game total (as technically a tie game is considered as unfinished), although statistics are retained as long as the game is of official regulation (five half innings for each team; only four for the home team if the home team is ahead). In Japan, games end after nine innings and a tie is considered honorable to both teams. Some leagues, especially youth leagues, will end a game if one team is ahead by 10 or more runs, so as not to further humiliate the other team.