Baseball for Dummies and Idiots Alike

Baseball, which is widely known in America, has already been established in other countries. It is a sport that uses a bat and a ball and is being played between two teams: the batting team and the fielding team, wherein each team is consisting of nine players.

The objective of the game is to score runs and touch the four bases in series (known as a homerun). If, however, a player on the batting team cannot make the home run, he can stop at a base at a time where he feels safe to stay and advance to the next base later on. Each of these bases is arranged in the corners of a ninety-foot diamond-shaped field. The game has nine divisions of play – otherwise known as an inning. In each inning, each team takes to bat and switches to fielding whenever three outs have already been recorded. Baseball is not a clock-based game; thus, as long as the 2nd set of the inning doesn’t reach the three outs, the game will not advance to the next inning. The team having the most runs by the end of the ninth inning wins the game. In the event that both teams score a tie at the end of the ninth inning, extra innings will be played to resolve the game.

Below are the basic tools of baseball.

Ball – it is around 23 centimeters in circumference – about the size of a fist of an adult; It consists of a rubber center covered with white cowhide.

Bat – the tool used for hitting and is made of wood in a solid piece crafted into a hard round stick. It is around 86 centimeters long in typical.

Glove or mitt – the tool in fielding which is made of padded glove-like leather used as an aid in catching the ball.

Helmets – used by batters.

The participants in the game are being referred to as:

Pitcher – the one who throws the ball.

Catcher – the one stationed behind the home plate who catches the ball thrown by the pitcher.

First baseman – the person positioned at the left of the first base.

Second baseman – the person positioned at the right of the second base.

Shortstop – the person positioned at the left of the second base.

Third baseman – the person positioned at the right of the third base.

Left fielder – the person positioned at the left of the outfield.

Center fielder – the person positioned at the center of the outfield.

Right fielder – the person positioned at the right of the outfield.

Umpire – the person chosen to officially judge and decide undisputed issues.

Batters – the one who hits the ball.

The part of the field which is enclosed by the bases and beyond is known as the infield; the area beyond refers to the outfield.

The game of baseball in North America has been played in professional levels; the Major League Baseball (MLB) being the highest. The MLB is the organization which is responsible for running both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ever since 1903. By the year 2000, the two leagues had been officially disbanded. MBL, since then, operates as a single league by law (de jure) and thus, constituted one of the major professional leagues in the United States. World Baseball Classic is also being managed by MLB, in conjunction with the International Baseball Federation (IBF).

Presently, MBL is composed of thirty teams – twenty-nine in the United States and one in its neighboring country, Canada.

Each season in the MBL consists of 162 games, but is sometimes being added in cases of tie breakers to determine the participation of the team during the postseason. The first Sunday of April generally marks the beginning of the season’s league and the first Sunday of October usually marks the end. The postseason is being played in October but could sometimes start earlier in November.

The New York Yankees (AL) ranks 1st in the World Series Records with 26 titles in 39 series; St. Louis Cardinals (NL) follows with 10 titles in 17 series; and Oakland Athletics (AL) ranks 3rd with 9 titles in 14 series.