Baseball is a beautiful game that is played throughout the summer by millions of people ranging from beginners to professionals. A young kid is sometimes started on the game as soon as he is old enough and capable enough to pick up a baseball bat and swing it. From that point on, he is taught the game and the rules that come with it.
History
Baseball is commonly referred to "America's Past-time," as the game was invented in Manhattan by Alexander Cartwright in 1842, explains the researchers of the online site, Hickok Sports. The game started out simple with a few young men getting together to play the game on the streets of Manhattan, but it soon began to grow into a spectator sport enjoyed by many. Committees were formed to make rules for the game that would be followed by each team and the game continually grew until the first professional baseball team was formed in Cincinnati in 1869.
Features
Baseball, on the professional level, features nine players in the field who are on defense and there is one batter who is on offense. There are four bases which are ninety feet apart and the batter's objective is to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher of the other team and get around all four bases without getting out. If he does that, he has scored a run and the team with the most runs at the end of nine innings wins the game. Two ways that a batter can score involve a home run and a ground rule double.
Homerun
A homerun can occur in two ways. The most common way is when the batter hits a fair ball that goes over the boundary fence on a fly. The second possibility is when the batter hits a ball in fair territory but does not go over the fence and he makes it around all four bases without getting out. On the second occurrence, he must make it around the bases before time is called and another batter comes to bat.
Ground Rule Double
According to the online site, Baseball Reference, a ground rule double is awarded by the umpire because a fair ball became unplayable according the the ground rules of the ballpark. One way this can happen is if a batter hits the ball in fair territory and it first hits the ground and then bounces over the boundary fence. A second possibility is if the ball becomes stuck in or under a field obstruction, such as the fence or a bench on the sideline and the defender cannot field the ball cleanly to make a play. The batter is always awarded a double and is allowed to go to second base without the possibility of getting out.
Significance
The significance of the rules for the homerun and the ground rule double is that they regulate how runs are scored in baseball. Without them, players would not know how to handle a situation in which a ball goes over the fence or gets stuck in an obstruction; the game would become very confusing to the players and to the spectators watching the sport. The rules are in place for a reason and they help make baseball the fascinating game that it is.
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