Baseball, long considered the all-American sport (but also highly popular in Central America, the Caribbean and Japan), is easy to learn and fun to play. While the official rules of, say, Major League Baseball may appear voluminous, the basic rules of the game are actually quite simple.
Innings
Baseball is divided into nine innings. An inning consists of both teams playing offense once and defense once.
Fielding
The team on the field consists of nine players. The pitcher stands on the pitcher's mound in the middle of the baseball diamond and pitches to the catcher, who stands behind home plate. First, second and third base are covered by a first, second and third baseman, respectively (though the second baseman tends to play somewhere between first and second). The shortstop plays somewhere between second and third base. The outfield is covered by three players--a left fielder, a right fielder and a center fielder.
At Bat
The team not on the field is "at bat." One by one, players at bat, standing next to home plate, attempt to hit the baseball as it is pitched by the pitcher. If the ball is hit, the batter proceeds to run to first base; if she can run farther than first, she can run to second, third or all the way around to home plate again. Once "on base," a player can run again if a teammate successfully hits the ball. The object of the player on offense is to make her way all the way around the diamond back to home plate, thereby earning a point (or, in baseball, a "run").
Out
The fielding team tries to get opposing team members "out." This can be done in a variety of ways. Three strikes (pitches that the umpire decides were well-pitched and hittable but were missed by the batter) results in an out. Tagging a runner while in possession of the baseball results in an out. Touching the base while in possession of the ball before the runner reaches it (the base) results in an out. Catching a hit ball before it touches the ground results in an out. Three outs results in a switch, with the fielding team moving to offense and the batting team heading out to the field.
Ball
In contrast to a strike, a ball is a bad pitch that the batter refuses to swing at. Four balls result in a free walk to first base (if a runner is already on first base, that runner gets to walk to second base).
Winning
The winning team is the one with the most runs at the conclusion of nine innings. If the score is tied, an extra inning is played. If the score is still tied after this extra inning, yet another inning is played, and so on.
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