Baseball Games
Baseball games are played everywhere from front yards to parking lots to billion-dollar arenas like the new "Yankee Stadium" that opened last year. Whether you are playing wiffle ball in the street in front of the house, getting geared up for the next round of Little League games, watching your son's high school ballgame, catching the local MLB team play game 2 of 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers or watching a live playoff game in Fenway Park, baseball games are great entertainment.
New baseball fans might be curious about what the basic rules and strategies of baseball, though. So I've prepared a quick overview of baseball that should help newcomers to the sport get a basic idea of how you play baseball. Those old pros who are new to Baseball Babble should know that we're going to get into detailed baseball strategy and tips eventually, once we lay this foundation of baseball information.
Baseball Basics
Of course, if you're new to baseball, you might be wondering about the basics. An official, organized baseball game is played with 9 players on a team. Two opposing teams alternate turns on offense and defense. When a team is on offense, they are said to be "up to bat". When a team in on defense, they are said to be "in the field".
That's because one team pitches a ball to the other team, which tries to hit the ball into play, which is an open field marked with white lines and a fence, to indicate what's in play. The defense scatters players around this field, in hopes they can catch the ball and make a play on the batter. Placement of these players have become rigid over the years, so there are 8 positions players and 1 pitcher on the field at a given time.
The 8 positions are: catcher, 1st baseman, 2nd baseman, shortstop, 3rd baseman, right fielder, center fielder and left fielder. There are three bases and one home plate, aligned in a diamond pattern. When the ball is hit, the batter runs in a clockwise pattern around the diamond, hoping to get back to home plate. If this happens, a run is scored. Whoever has the most runs at the end of the game wins.
Batting in Baseball
The team that's up to bat also has 9 players, though most of these sit on the bench during their turn to bat. These players take individual turns trying to hit the ball with a wooden bat (aluminum in non-professional leagues). Each batter receives three "strikes", which is three swings at the ball, without hitting it. If you swing three times and miss, you are out.
Also, there is a strike zone in place, roughly the width of home plate, and roughly the height from your knees to the bottom of your chest. This varies from league to league and umpire to umpire, though it shrinks in the major leagues and gets bigger in Little League games, to accommodate the skills of the pitchers. If a ball isn't thrown in the strike zone and a hitter doesn't swing at the ball, it is called a "ball". If a hitter receives 4 balls before 3 strikes, he walks to 1st base.
Finally, a foul ball is considered a strike, unless it's the 3rd strike. Fouls don't count as strikes on the third strike, so some at-bats might last longer than the 6-pitch maximum you might otherwise expect. Fouls that are caught in the air are an out.
Hitting Safely
When a ball is hit into play, the batters, as well as any runners, must make it to a base safely, or else they are out. You must advance in a clockwise pattern, and one runner can't pass up another. So if you are on 1st base and the ball is hit, you must advance to 2nd, 3rd or home plate safely. If you're on 2nd base, you must advance to 3rd or home safely. If you're on 3rd base, you must advance to home plate. Two runners can't be on the same base at once.
Outs happens in three main ways, besides strikeouts. "Force outs" happen when you must advance to the next base, but the fielders collect the ball and step on that base first. "Tag outs" happen when you don't have to advance to a base, but you are caught off the bag; in this case, the fielders must be holding the ball and tag you with that ball, or their glove holding the ball. "Fly outs" or fly balls happen when you hit the ball in the air, but the fielders catch the ball, before it hits the ground. In this case, the batter is out.
Three Outs
When one team receives three outs, their turn at bat is over. The other team comes up to bat. The home team takes the field first, and receives the final at-bat, unless they are ahead. There are 9 innings in a professional baseball game, though youth games tend to be 6-7 innings. When the visiting team is at bat, it's said to be the top of the inning. When the home team is at bat, it's said to be the bottom of the inning.
If the teams are tied after 9 innings, an extra inning is played. Both teams get 1 chance at bat - that is, 3 outs. Whoever is ahead at the end of the extra inning wins. If neither is ahead, another inning is played.
More Baseball Rules
There's a whole rulebook full of other baseball rules, from double plays to substitutions to the infield fly rule. To list all those rules would be to write the rulebook here. Keeping reading Baseball Babble and we'll eventually try to cover all the rules you'll encounter when watching baseball games, but not today.