Baseball

Baseball is a sport played between two teams usually of nine players each. It is a bat-and-ball game in which a pitcher throws (pitches) a hard, fist-sized, leather-covered ball toward a batter on the opposing team.

The batter attempts to hit the baseball with a tapered cylindrical bat, made of wood (as required in professional baseball) or a variety of other materials (as allowed in many nonprofessional games). A team scores runs only when batting, by advancing its players—primarily via hits—counterclockwise past a series of four markers called bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or "diamond." The game, played without time restriction, is structured around nine segments called innings. In each inning, both teams are given the opportunity to bat and score runs; a team's half-inning ends when three outs are recorded against that team.

The roots of the sport go back to the early 1800s, when Americans began playing baseball on informal teams and using local rules. The game was based on the English "rounders", that was then called "townball", "base", or "baseball" in the US. By the 1860s, baseball unrivaled in popularity and was being described as America's "national pastime."

The modern baseball field was invented by Alexander Joy Cartwright in 1845, when he and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, devised the first rules and regulations. The first recorded baseball game took place at the Elysian Fields, in Hoboken (New Jersey) one year later. The Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club. The National Association of Base Ball Players was founded in 1858 and the first organized baseball league was formed. The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly-salaried team in 1869 and are thus considered the first professional team. In 1871, the first professional baseball league was established in the USA. Five years later, the National League, was founded as the first major league.

[edit] Weblinks

• mlb.com Offcial Major League Baseball website
• milb.com Official Minor League Baseball website
• baseballsoftballuk.com Official website of the British Baseball Federation
• Website of the Society for American Baseball Research
• Online museum of early baseball
• Extensive collection of historic baseball memorabilia
• Baseball newspaper archive

Created by: Berlin Last edited by: Viva Colonia