Baseball has long been considered a vital part of the U.S. sporting landscape. It's yearly consistency is part of its charm. Teams come together for spring training, signifying the end of winter, play the All-Star game in the middle of summer and its World Series time in the fall. The rules of the game are part of its charm.
Basics
Games are nine innings long, unless it goes into extra innings, and each team gets three outs before the other other team comes to bat. The pitching mound is 60 feet 6 inches from home plate, the bases are 90 feet apart and the fences in the outfield must be a minimum of 250 feet from home plate. There are nine players in the field and nine players come to bat. In the American League, a designated hitter gets to bat in place of the pitcher. In the National League the pitcher bats. If the score is tied or the visiting team is ahead in the ninth inning, the home team gets an opportunity to either mount a comeback or win the game in the bottom of the ninth. If the home team is ahead after the visiting team bats in the ninth, the game is over.
Pitchers attempt to get batters out by having them hit ground balls to infielders who then throw to first base or fly balls that are caught. If the batter misses or takes a called third strike, he is out. If the pitcher throws four balls, the batter gets a base on balls and goes to first base.
Hitting
Batters try to hit the ball when they go into the batter's box on either side of home plate. Pitchers attempt to get the batters out with an array of pitches. Legal pitches include the fastball, curve, slider, change up, screwball, knuckle ball and knuckle curve. Pitchers are not allowed to use a foreign substance on the ball, such as salvia, grease or pine tar.
If the batter can reach first base before a fielder can throw the ball to first after picking up a ground ball, the runner is safe. Hitting a line drive that hits the ground before an outfielder can catch it gives the batter a base hit. The batter can run to second, third or home if he can get that far without getting tagged out. A player who hits the ball over the fence gets credit for a home run and all runners on base score.
Fielding
Fielders are strategically placed around the baseball diamond. Infielders include the first baseman, second baseman, third baseman and shortstop. Outfielders are placed in left field, center field and right field. The pitcher puts the ball in play and the catcher receives the ball from the pitcher and also tries to throw out runners who try to steal bases. Infielders try to catch ground balls and throw to first base in order to get the batter out. If there is a runner on first base and a ground ball is hit to the third baseman or shortstop, a throw can be made to second to retire that runner. That runner is out if the ball beats him to the base and the fielder (second baseman) catches it. The batter can also be retired on fly balls to the outfield. An outfielder who catches the ball before it hits the ground records an out. Even if the ball is about to fly over the fence, the batter is retired if the outfielder finds a way to catch the ball before it leaves the ballpark.
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