baseball

 

  • A player on the batting team who reaches first base without being called “out” can attempt to advance to subsequent bases as a runner, either immediately or during teammates’
    turns batting.

  • [17] An individual player’s turn batting or plate appearance is complete when the player reaches base, hits a home run, makes an out, or hits a ball that results in the team’s
    third out, even if it is recorded against a teammate.

  • Once a player has completed a plate appearance, that player may not bat again until the eight other members of the player’s team have all taken their turn at bat in the batting
    order.

  • The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play and away from the other team’s players, allowing its players to run the bases,
    having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called “runs”.

  • The fair territory between home plate and the outfield boundary is baseball’s field of play, though significant events can take place in foul territory, as well.

  • The team in the field attempts to prevent runs from scoring by recording outs, which remove opposing players from offensive action, until their next turn at bat comes up again.

  • [9] At the beginning of each half-inning, the nine players of the fielding team arrange themselves around the field.

  • The players on the team at bat attempt to score runs by touching all four bases, in order, set at the corners of the square-shaped baseball diamond.

  • With a team that has the lead in the late innings, a manager may remove a starting position player—especially one whose turn at bat is not likely to come up again—for a more
    skillful fielder (known as a defensive substitution).

  • A batter who hits the ball into the field of play must drop the bat and begin running toward first base, at which point the player is referred to as a runner (or, until the
    play is over, a batter-runner).

  • A typical roster features the following players:[20] • Eight position players: the catcher, four infielders, and three outfielders—all of whom play on a regular basis • Five
    starting pitchers who constitute the team’s pitching rotation or starting rotation • Six relief pitchers, including one closer, who constitute the team’s bullpen (named for the off-field area where pitchers warm up) • One backup, or substitute,
    catcher • Two backup infielders • Two backup outfielders • One pinch hitter, or a utility player, or a seventh reliever Most baseball leagues worldwide have the DH rule, including the MLB, Japan’s Pacific League, and Caribbean professional
    leagues, along with major American amateur organizations.

  • [2] A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter).

  • The rest of the fielding team faces home plate, typically arranged as four infielders—who set up along or within a few yards outside the imaginary lines (basepaths) between
    first, second, and third base—and three outfielders.

  • In addition to the strikeout and flyout, common ways a member of the batting team may be put out include the ground out, force out, and tag out.

  • Thus, even with the DH, each team still has a batting order of nine players and a fielding arrangement of nine players.

  • At most levels of organized play, two coaches are stationed on the field when the team is at bat: the first base coach and third base coach, who occupy designated coaches’
    boxes, just outside the foul lines.

  • [28] Strategy Many of the pre-game and in-game strategic decisions in baseball revolve around a fundamental fact: in general, right-handed batters tend to be more successful
    against left-handed pitchers and, to an even greater degree, left-handed batters tend to be more successful against right-handed pitchers.

  • Runners may also attempt to advance to the next base while the pitcher is in the process of delivering the ball to home plate; a successful effort is a stolen base.

  • A runner on first base must attempt to advance if a ball lands in play, as only one runner may occupy a base at any given time.

  • [47] By the early 1830s, there were reports of a variety of uncodified bat-and-ball games recognizable as early forms of baseball being played around North America.

  • Three outs in one play, a triple play, is possible, though rare.

  • [3] One team—customarily the visiting team—bats in the top, or first half, of every inning.

  • [29] A manager with several left-handed batters in the regular lineup, who knows the team will be facing a left-handed starting pitcher, may respond by starting one or more
    of the right-handed backups on the team’s roster.

  • [38] Batting and baserunning Several basic offensive tactics come into play with a runner on first base, including the fundamental choice of whether to attempt a steal of
    second base.

  • A pair of turns, one at bat and one in the field, by each team constitutes an inning.

  • If a ball hit into play rolls foul before passing through the infield, it becomes dead and any runners must return to the base they occupied when the play began.

  • [37] Facing a batter with a strong tendency to hit to one side of the field, the fielding team may employ a shift, with most or all of the fielders moving to the left or right
    of their usual positions.

  • The first objective of the batting team is to have a player reach first base safely; this generally occurs either when the batter reaches first base before an opponent holding
    the ball touches the base, or when the pitcher persists in throwing the ball out of the batter’s reach.

  • A game is usually composed of nine innings, and the team with the greater number of runs at the end of the game wins.

  • In MLB, four umpires are used for each game, one near each base.

  • A batter-runner may choose to remain at first base or attempt to advance to second base or even beyond—however far the player believes can be reached safely.

  • The DH takes the place of another player—almost invariably the pitcher—in the batting order, but does not field.

  • With a runner on third base, the infielders may play in, moving closer to home plate to improve the odds of throwing out the runner on a ground ball, though a sharply hit
    grounder is more likely to carry through a drawn-in infield.

  • A player bats at home plate and must attempt to safely reach a base before proceeding, counterclockwise, from first base, to second base, third base, and back home to score
    a run.

  • [40] With a runner on third and fewer than two outs, a batter may instead concentrate on hitting a fly ball that, even if it is caught, will be deep enough to allow the runner
    to tag up and score—a successful batter, in this case, gets credit for a sacrifice fly.

  • [74][75] Integration proceeded slowly: by 1953, only six of the 16 major league teams had a black player on the roster.

  • The ultimate and most desirable result possible for a batter would be to hit a home run while all three bases are occupied or “loaded”, thus scoring four runs on a single
    hit.

  • It is possible to record two outs in the course of the same play.

  • Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams, of nine players each, that take turns batting and fielding.

  • A runner may be stranded on base when a third out is recorded against another player on the team.

  • [4] The game is played on a field whose primary boundaries, the foul lines, extend forward from home plate at 45-degree angles.

  • [24][25] Managers and coaches The manager, or head coach, oversees the team’s major strategic decisions, such as establishing the starting rotation, setting the lineup, or
    batting order, before each game, and making substitutions during games—in particular, bringing in relief pitchers.

  • [71] The first crack in the unwritten agreement barring blacks from white-controlled professional ball occurred in 1945: Jackie Robinson was signed by the National League’s
    Brooklyn Dodgers and began playing for their minor league team in Montreal.

  • In the playoffs, six umpires are used: one at each base and two in the outfield along the foul lines.

  • [38] In order to increase the chance of advancing a batter to first base via a walk, the manager will sometimes signal a batter who is ahead in the count (i.e., has more balls
    than strikes) to take, or not swing at, the next pitch.

  • [21] The Central League in Japan does not have the rule and high-level minor league clubs connected to National League teams are not required to field a DH.

  • [59] The National League’s first successful counterpart, the American League, which evolved from the minor Western League, was established in 1893, and virtually all of the
    modern baseball rules were in place by then.

  • A player who reaches base despite proper play by the fielders has recorded a hit.

  • [55] A year later, the sport’s first governing body, the National Association of Base Ball Players, was formed.

  • The other team—customarily the home team—bats in the bottom, or second half, of every inning.

  • [14] A pitch that is not hit into the field of play is called either a strike or a ball.

  • A game consists of nine innings (seven innings at the high school level and in doubleheaders in college, Minor League Baseball and, since the 2020 season, Major League Baseball;
    and six innings at the Little League level).

  • (A batter may also freely advance to first base if the batter’s body or uniform is struck by a pitch outside the strike zone, provided the batter does not swing and attempts
    to avoid being hit.

  • The fielding team tries to prevent runs by getting batters or runners “out”, which forces them out of the field of play.

  • One turn batting for each team constitutes an inning.

  • Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century.

  • The objective of the defensive team (fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners’ advance around the bases.

  • [102] While the sport’s lack of a following in much of the world was a factor,[103] more important was MLB’s reluctance to allow its players to participate during the major
    league season.

  • [51] While there are reports that the New York Knickerbockers played games in 1845, the contest long recognized as the first officially recorded baseball game in U.S. history
    took place on June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey: the “New York Nine” defeated the Knickerbockers, 23–1, in four innings.

  • Playing for the Central League’s Yomiuri Giants (1959–80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs.

  • A runner may circle the bases only once per plate appearance and thus can score at most a single run per batting turn.

  • Rules and gameplay A baseball game is played between two teams, each usually composed of nine players, that take turns playing offense (batting and baserunning) and defense
    (pitching and fielding).

  • Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley led the formation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to help keep the game in the public eye.

  • Another fielding team player, the catcher, squats on the far side of home plate, facing the pitcher.

  • If a player makes it to second base safely as a direct result of a hit, it is a double; third base, a triple.

  • Violation of any one of these rules could result in the umpire calling a balk against the pitcher, which permits any runners on base to advance one base with impunity.

  • In the standard arrangement, there is a first baseman positioned several steps to the left of first base, a second baseman to the right of second base, a shortstop to the
    left of second base, and a third baseman to the right of third base.

  • The opposing teams switch back and forth between batting and fielding; the batting team’s turn to bat is over once the fielding team records three outs.

  • Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of each other, and that the game’s most direct antecedents are the English games of stoolball
    and “tut-ball”.

  • A batter against whom four balls are recorded is awarded a base on balls or walk, a free advance to first base.

  • [82] In 2007, Bonds became MLB’s all-time home run leader, surpassing Hank Aaron, as total major league and minor league attendance both reached all-time highs.

  • While the team at bat is trying to score runs, the team in the field is attempting to record outs.

  • When three outs are recorded, the teams switch roles for the next half-inning.

  • [78][79] After play resumed in 1995, non-division-winning wild card teams became a permanent fixture of the post-season.

  • During the late innings of a game, as relief pitchers and pinch hitters are brought in, the opposing managers will often go back and forth trying to create favorable matchups
    with their substitutions.

 

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Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/76255570@N03/8671824531/’]