Baseball is the oldest played sport in the world. It originated in the United States, among black Americans in front of White Americans, but was brought by European immigrants to America in the 18th century. As baseball spread across America, several different variations of the game were created, including Little League Baseball, High School Baseball, College Baseball, and International Baseball. Today, the game is played between teams that consist of twenty-two players on each team.
Baseball is a ball-and-bat sport played between two competing teams: who each take turns fielding and batting. The game typically continues until a team player on the catching team, known as the catcher, throws a hard-hit ball to a player who is running on the base, known as an offensive player. The player, usually leading on base, advances to home plate, where the ball is thrown to a second player who is running for an extra base. The player who scores runs receives credit while the runner who Scores runs takes off first to first base, depending upon whose team has more players.
Batting is usually split between positions: cleanup hitters are usually the first to bat, followed by every outfield position player. The cleanup hitter attempts to field all runners that come to the plate, while every other position player attempts to hit a baseball or pop up. The cleanup hitter plays a significant role in the success of a baseball team; without him, many baseball leagues have declared bankruptcy. Many baseball teams have designated a “Money Maker” (player who earns the most Runs) to be the team’s primary batter. The money maker is rewarded with extra cash and luxury gifts such as large golf bags and diamond sets.
Each team plays at a designated baseball field: that contains fifteen different baseball fields, each containing a unique number of diamonds. Home plate is located one thousand feet from home plate, which means that for a ballgame, the running clock will be three hours, thirty-five minutes per game. The home plate umpire has the authority to call anything on the playing surface that he sees, regardless of whether the ball has touched any of the playing surfaces beneath it. All other running time on a baseball field is measured in seconds.
Baseball uses a format of play known as “innings”: In an inning, a baseball game may be concluded when the following occur: the team with the most runs scored wins the game. In other words, a winning team must score more runs than the other team during an entire game.
Baseball games are played with eleven players on each team: The pitching, hitting, and catching teams all utilize different arm names. There are seven position players on every team, while the bench consists of two players. On offense, there are two catchers (one pitcher and another player who hold the rope), two second basemen (also known as “designated hitters”), two outfielders, two first basemen, one first pitcher (also known as a “designated” or “short stop”), and one base runner.
Each position player is also allotted a specific amount of time during the game to swing, catch, and field the ball, depending on what type of play is in play.
