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

Baseball Playing Style

Baseball has an antique, unhurried pace. Both football and basketball use a clock, and fans must often watch games end while one team degrades the competitive element of the game by "killing the clock" rather than competing directly against the opposing team. But baseball has no clock; you cannot win without getting the last man out, and a rally can start at any time.

(In recent decades, observers have criticized baseball for this, with some justification as the time required to play a baseball game has increased steadily through the years. One hundred years ago, games typically took an hour and a half to play; today, four-hour nine-inning games are not uncommon. However, this is primarly due to increased commercial breaks more than a decrease in playing speed. However, increased offense and more pitching changes also prolong the length of the game.)

Baseball is a team game -- even two or three Hall of Fame players cannot guarantee a pennant by themselves. In the last years of the 20th century, a trend toward building teams based on a more even distribution of talent throughout the lineup became noticeable. The Seattle Mariners and the Florida Marlins were two teams that began moving away from the previous belief in building teams around superstars. Team salary caps led to the decision by many owners to pay more solid players decent money rather than surrounding one or two expensive superstars with a below-average set of teammates. It remains to be seen if this strategy will be successful.

Paradoxically, the game places individual players under great pressure and scrutiny one at a time. The pitcher must make a good pitch or suffer reproach; no one can help him throw the ball. The hitter has a mere fraction of a second to swing the bat; no one can help him then. If the batter hits a line drive, the outfielder makes a lonely decision to try to catch it or play it on the bounce. Baseball history is full of heroes and goats -- men who in the heat of the moment distinguished themselves with a timely hit or catch, or an untimely strikeout or error.

It is a beautiful, leisurely game on the surface (some would say boring) but sudden and fierce beneath. Many people fail to recognize that baseball is a game of strategy and anticipation, as much as it is a game of skill and athleticism.