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A single game is played by two teams, who, during the course of a game, alternate playing offense and defense. Each alternation is called an "inning", and there are usually 9 innings in a game. A "season" is played over the course of many months by a group of teams, called a league. Each team in the league plays all the other teams in the league a fixed number of times, though it is not always in round robin format. At the end of the season, the team with the most wins is the winner of the regular season.
The goal of a game is to score more points, which are called "runs" in the language of baseball, than the other team. Each team, usually composed of 9 or 10 players, attempts to score runs while on offense, by completing a tour of the bases, which form a square-shaped figure called a "diamond." A tour starts at home plate and proceeds counter-clockwise. See the image below.
Diagram of a baseball diamondThere are four basic tools of baseball: the bat, the ball, the mitt, and the field.
The bat is an offensive tool, either made of wood or aluminum depending on the game being played. It is a long, hard stick, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter, except at the handle, which is about 1-inch (2.5 centimeters) diameter. The ball in baseball is about the size of a fist and white (though other colors can be used) with red lacing. Softball uses a white or yellow ball (usually) about the size of two fists with white lacing . The glove or mitt is a defensive tool, made of leather, worn on the players hand to aide in catching the ball. It takes various shapes to meet the unique needs of the defensive position of the player. The game is played on a field, whose dimensions vary depending on the age of the players. However, every field has a diamond, with bases at its corners, that the offensive players circumnavigate, as mentioned above. The part of the field closest to the bases is called the infield, and the part most distant from the bases is called the outfield. Baseball is played in a series of (usually 9) "innings", each of which is divided into two halves (called "top" and "bottom" in that order: hence the phrase bottom of the ninth). In each half-inning, the offensive team attempts to score runs until three of its players are put "out" (removed from play by actions of the defensive team; discussed below). After the third out, the teams switch roles for the other half of the inning. The "home" team plays defense first, and so plays defense in the top of every inning and offense in the bottom of every inning.
At the beginning of each half-inning, the nine defensive players arrange themselves on the field. One defensive player is called the "pitcher" and stands at the center of the diamond on a designated spot, called the mound or the rubber - a reference to the rectangular rubber plate at the center of the mound. Another defensive player is called the "catcher" and stands on the other side of home plate from the pitcher. Typically four more players are arranged along the lines between first, second, and third bases, and the other three are in the outfield.
Runs are scored as follows: starting at home plate, each offensive player attempts to earn the right to run (counterclockwise) to the next base (corner) of the diamond, then to touch the base at that corner, continuing on to each following base in order, and finally returning to home, whereupon a run (point) is scored. Often an offensive player will achieve a base but be forced to stop there; on future plays (usually in concert with other runners), the player may continue to advance, or else be put out.
A play begins with an offensive player called a "batter" standing at home plate, holding a bat. The batter then waits for the pitcher to throw a "pitch" (the ball) toward home plate, and attempts to hit the ball with the bat. If the batter hits the ball into play, the batter must then drop the bat and begin running toward 1st base. (There are other ways to earn the right to run the bases, such as "walks" or being hit by a pitched ball. See baseball for more.) The catcher catches pitches that the batter does not hit (either by choice or simple failure to make contact) and returns them to the pitcher.
If the batter fails to hit a well-pitched ball (one within the strike zone) or if he hits it so that it goes outside of the field of play it is called a "strike". (However, if the ball is hit over the outfield and exits the field there, it is instead (one type of) a "home run": the batter and all other offensive players on bases may complete a tour of the bases and score a run. This is the most desirable result for the batter.)
When a batter begins running, he or she is then referred to as a "runner". Runners attempt to reach a base, where they are "safe" and may remain there. The defensive players attempt to prevent this by putting the runners out using the ball; runners put out must leave the field (returning to the "bench" or "dugout", the location where all the other inactive players and managers observe the game).
There are many ways that the team on defense can get an offensive player out. For the sake of simplicity, only the five most common ways are listed here:
the "strikeout": occurs when the batter acquires three strikes before hitting the ball (within the field); the batter never becomes a runner. (Hence the phrase "Three strikes and you are out".) the "groundout": when the batter hits the ball but a defensive player retrieves it after it has touched the ground and throws it to another defensive player standing on first base before the runner arrives there. the "forceout": occurs when a runner is required to run to advance bases ahead of a teammate's hit but fails to reach it before a defensive player reaches the base with the ball. The "ground out" is actually a special case of "force out." the "flyout": if a defensive player catches a hit ball before it touches the ground, the batter (now a runner) is out (regardless of his location). the "tag out": while between bases, a runner is out if a defensive player touches him with a held ball. Any baseball game involves one or more umpires, who make rulings on the outcome of each play. At a minimum, one umpire will stand behind the catcher, to have a good view of the strike zone, and call each pitch a ball or a strike. Additional umpires may be stationed near the bases, thus making it easier to see plays in the field. In Major League Baseball, four umpires are used for each game, one near each base. In the all-star game and playoffs, six umpires are used: one at each base and two in the outfield along either foul line.
Baseball is unique among American sports in several ways. This uniqueness is a large part of its longstanding appeal and strong association with the American psyche. The philosopher Morris Raphael Cohen described baseball as a national religion. Many Americans believe that baseball is the ultimate combination of skill, timing, athleticism, and strategy. In this, baseball is similar to its cousin game cricket: in many Commonwealth nations, cricket and the culture surrounding it hold a similar place and affection to baseball's role in American culture.Basketball, ice hockey, American football, and soccer all use a clock, and games often end by a team with the lead killing the clock rather than competing directly against the opposing team. In contrast, baseball has no clock; a team cannot win without getting the last batter out and rallies are not constrained by time. Other sports popular on the professional level in the U.S. that do not have a time limit are tennis and golf, although these are individual as opposed to team sports.
In recent decades, observers have criticized professional baseball for the length of its games, with some justification as the time required to play a baseball game has increased steadily through the years. At the turn of the 20th century, games typically took an hour and a half to play. In the 1920s, they averaged just under two hours, which eventually ballooned to 2 hours and 38 minutes in 1960.[6] Though this average dipped to 2 hours 25 minutes in 1975, [7] by the turn of the 21st century, games had become so long that Major League Baseball's goal in 2004 was to get the average game down to 2 hour and 45 minutes, after coming close in 2003 at 2 hours and 46 minutes.[8]
The lengthening of games is attributed to longer breaks between half-innings for television commercials, increased offense, more pitching changes, and a slower pace of play. In response, Major League Baseball mandated a maximum break between half-innings, while instructing umpires to be stricter in enforcing speed-up rules and the size of the strike zone.[9] [10]
Although the official rules specify that when the bases are empty, the pitcher should deliver the ball within 12 seconds of receiving it (with the penalty of a ball called if he fails to do so), this rule is rarely, if ever, enforced. The umpire also has the option of calling a ball if there are runners on base, but this is also rarely, if ever, enforced. The official rules also require the batter to remain in the batter's box at all times when at bat — another rule that is "observed in the breach".
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