The game of baseball has been around since the early 1800s, and is often called America's favorite pastime. Major League Baseball (MLB) sets the regulations for the professional version of the sport. While the rules of baseball can be intricate, the basics of the game can be learned by even the youngest fans.
Objectives
A regulation baseball game consists of nine innings. Each inning is divided into a top half, when the visiting team bats and the home team takes the field, and a bottom half, where the roles are reversed. In each half inning, the batting team tries to score as many runs as possible before making three outs. The team with the most runs after nine innings wins the game.
Playing Field
The baseball diamond is formed by first, second and third base, and home plate. Each side of this diamond measures 90 feet. In the center of the diamond is the pitcher's mound.
The diamond forms the infield, and the area beyond it is the outfield. A line is drawn from home plate to third base and extends into the outfield to the left field foul pole on one side and to first base and the right field foul pole on the opposite. Balls hit between those lines are fair balls, while balls hit outside those lines are foul balls.
Positions
A team consists of nine fielding positions: pitcher; catcher; first, second and third basemen; shortstop; and left, center and right fielders. In National League games, these nine players also fill the lineup when batting. The American League, however, utilizes a designated hitter, who bats in place of the pitcher but doesn't play the field.
Balls and Strikes
The strike zone varies by batter and measures from the top of his shoulders to the bottom of his knees in the area over home plate. If the batter doesn't make contact with a ball thrown in the zone, it's a strike. If a pitch is thrown outside the strike zone and the batter doesn't swing, it is a ball. When a pitcher throws four balls to a single batter, that batter gets a walk and advances to first base.
Strikes are also called when the batter swings at the ball and misses or hits the ball into foul territory. When three strikes are called, the batter is out. Strike three, however, can't be called on a foul ball. If a player is hit by a pitch while in the batter's box, he also receives a free base.
Outs
In addition to strikeouts, the defending team can make an out by catching a fly ball--that is, a ball that doesn't touch the ground after contact with the bat. For ground balls, the fielder can retrieve and throw the ball to the base where the runner is heading, and if the ball beats the runner, he is out. A fielder can also tag a runner while he's between bases to make an out.
Hits
When the batter puts the ball in play and legally reaches a base, it's a hit. A batter can hit a single, double or triple, depending on the number of bases reached, or a home run, in which a fly ball is hit out of the stadium in fair territory. A player who touches all the bases and returns home scores a run.
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