Baseball Game Basics
What is 'baseball'?
Baseball is a great American sport. It is uniquely American. It is so tied to the fabric of our country. You can answer this question in a lot of ways. What is baseball? It means different things to different people. On a very basic level, it's a game played with a bat and a ball, and a pitcher throwing the ball to the batter who is trying to hit it safely and drive in runs and score runs. The team who scores the most runs wins.
What is an 'inning' in baseball?
An inning is three out's on offense and three out's on defense. Each team plays both offense and defense in an inning.
How many innings make up a baseball game?
The average game of baseball lasts nine innings. It can go longer than nine innings if the game is tied after nine innings, in which case the two teams play until the tie is broken, and one team wins. On occasion, when it rains, you can have a game that goes fewer than nine innings.
What is inside of a baseball?
Inside of a baseball is cork at the centre, surrounded by a couple layers of rubber, and then a few hundred feet of yarn, actually wound tightly and covered by a hide.
What are the 'stitches' on a baseball and what purpose do they serve?
Well, pitchers use the stitches for their grips, to throw different kinds of pitches. You grip a ball a certain way if you want to throw a curveball, a slider, a fastball, or a specific kind of fastball. So the stitches, 108 red cotton stitches, are crucial to the pitcher.
What is a 'lineup' in baseball?
A line-up is the roster of players who are going to appear in that game--nine players in the National League, ten in the American League if you're including the designated hitter and the pitcher.
What is the 'batting order' in baseball?
Batting order is the order in which hitters appear in the line-up. You have a hitter who is a number one hitter, number two, three, and so on down the line. The first hitter is usually the fastest player in the line-up and is able to get on base often. The second batter usually has great bat control and is able to move the first batter further along the path to scoring. Often the third hitter is your best hitter, and the fourth is your most powerful, and so on down the line.
How many players make up a baseball team's lineup?
A baseball team's batting line-up is made up of nine players, the position players who are on defence, and in the American League, you have the designated hitter, who bats for the pitcher.
What is a 'pitcher' in a baseball game?
The pitcher is the person who throws the ball to the home plate, tries to throw it past the batter. The batter, in turn, tries to hit that pitch.
What is a 'batter' in a baseball game?
The batter attempts to hit the pitch that's delivered by the pitcher. The idea is to hit safely and thus advance around the bases to score runs to win the game.
What are the defensive positions on a baseball team?
The defensive positions on a baseball team are first base, second base, shortstop, third base; pitcher, catcher; left field, center field and right field.
What is the 'manager' in baseball?
The manager is the coach. The manager is the person who runs the game, who directs the players and who is in charge of how his team performs.
What is the 'bat boy' or 'bat girl' in baseball?
The bat boy or bat girl in baseball retrieves the bats, gives the bats to the players, and just kind of keeps the area near the home plate clear of batting instruments.