Baseball

The sport of baseball started over one hundred years ago in the United States. It is played formally in baseball stadiums called ballparks where fans sit on bleachers to watch two teams face off on the field in the center. Furthermore, the sport is considered uniquely American, sometimes referred to “America’s pastime” because of its rich history and popularity during the twentieth century. It has since expanded to all corners of the globe, with a fanatical embrace by the country of Japan. Essentially, two teams compete against each other until one wins.

The game is structured around four bases, where the infield forms a diamond of bases, and the outfield extends beyond to the walls or fence. There are foul lines that determine if the ball is in play or “foul” which means the play stops. The objective is to score more runs than the other team by rounding the bases to score. Innings are divided into top and bottoms, with the home team fielding at the top of the inning while the visiting team bats. After three outs, they switch batting and fielding for the bottom of the inning.

The pitcher throws the ball towards the opposing batter at home plate located at the bottom vertex of the diamond. Once the fielders get three outs, then the half of the inning, or side, is over and they switch. Three bases complete the diamond, and a batter must hit the ball in play and beat the fielders to the first base. He stands bases after the ball has been fielded by the other team, but once the baserunner leaves the base, he is no longer safe and can get thrown out or tagged out. The batter tries to hit the ball with his bat to put the ball in play and run around all four bases or allow other base runners to safely move to the next bases. If the baserunner makes it to home plate, then the team who is batting receives one run. If four bad pitches are thrown at a batter, then he can walk to first base freely. If the batter hits the ball past