In this section, we will explain the essential things about the game of baseball so that you will know enough to understand and enjoy watching the game, whether live or on television.  We will not try to explain every detail or rule about the game -- there are many books that can do that.  Our purpose is to try and explain enough from the spectator's viewpoint so that you can understand what is going on, and enjoy watching a baseball game.
 

What is baseball? A baseball is a sphere of horse or cowhide surrounding a cork core, with a circumference of about 9 inches (23 centimeters) and weighing about 5 ounces (141 grams). A bat is a single, solid piece of wood, usually white ash, which is thinner at one end for the hands to hold bat, and thick and circular at the other end which is used to hit the ball.  At the thick end, the diameter of the circle can be no larger that 2.75 inches (7 centimeters) and the bat's length can be no longer than 42 inches (about one meter).	Baseball is a competitive game played between two teams against each other, with each team's objective being to win the game by scoring a higher number of "runs", which is the number of points that a team has when the game ends.  There are several variants of the main game of baseball, being professional, amateur, or little league baseball, or softball, which has slightly different rules.  We will discuss only professional baseball as played in the United States under the brand name of Major League Baseball.  Baseball is played in many countries, with the primary countries that have professional ( pro) baseball being in the USA, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and a few other countries.  The word "baseball" derives from the fact that a ball (also known as a baseball) and bases are used in the game.  All the terms used here will be explained further in other sections below. The photos on the left show a baseball, which is of a size that fits comfortably in one hand, and on the right, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees in 1961 holding a bat used to swing and strike at the baseball.  Mickey Mantle was probably the greatest all-around baseball player there ever was, for batting, speed in running, and fielding and catching the ball on defense.  He was also a switch-hitter, which meant that he could bat from either side of home plate;  he could bat either right-handed or left-handed.  When holding the bat normally, a right-handed batter would hold the bat with his right hand stacked on top of the left hand, as in the photo on the left.  A left-handed batter would have his left hand stacked on top of his right hand.
Teams - This photo is of the great New York Yankees team in 1952.  The players are, from the left, Johnny Mize, Joe Collins, Gene Woodling, Gil McDougal, Hank Bauer, Phil Rizzuto, Billy Martin, Irv Noren, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle.	At any time of active play, each team must have at least nine members to fill each of nine positions.  Each team may have more members on its team, and those members in excess of the nine required members must wait in the team box called a dugout.  These excess members can be used during the game to replace, or substitute for, one of the active members, called a "player".  Once an active player has been substituted for, or removed from active playing status, he/she cannot be entered into the game again.  Professional baseball teams would normally have 25 players on each team. (For ease of explanation, we will refer to players as "he" rather than the cumbersome he/she, even though there could be baseball played by women players as well.) Of the two teams, one team is usually considered the "home" team and the other team, the "visiting" team.  The team that owns the stadium, or playing field, on which the game is being played, is the home team, and the other team from another city will be the visitors.  The home team players would normally be wearing uniforms mostly white in colour, and the visiting team players would be in uniforms that, in the past, were mostly grey in colour, but nowadays, have different types of colours.
Major League Baseball	Major League baseball in the US consist of 28 teams divided into two leagues, the American League and the National League.  Each team plays a total of 162 games, mostly with teams in the league that the team is assigned to, and a few games with teams from the other league, called interleague play.  The season for baseball starts with spring training from February of each year, and has an exhibition season, which are games that do not count in the main season of 162 games.  The main season begins in April, and will last until the end of September, at which time the teams with the better winning record will meet in another schedule of games called the "playoffs".  Finally, two teams, each representing its league, will meet in a best of 7 games set called the "World Series".  In 2000, the New York Yankees of the American League beat the New York Mets of the National League 4 games to 1, ending on 26th October 2000.  While the winner is called the World Champion of baseball, they are strictly just the champion of US Major League Baseball, but it is doubtful if any other team in another baseball playing country could beat these "World Champs", the New York Yankees, who also are the best known baseball team, the richest, most popular, and with the most interesting history.
Stadium (Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, former home of Atlanta Braves) Distances from Home Base to: - edge of center field: 400 feet (122 meters) - corner of left field:  330 feet (100 meters) - corner of right field: 330 feet - to 1st base: 90 feet (27.4 meters), and same distance from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, and 3rd to home - to Pitcher's position: 60.5 feet (18.5 meters)	The arena in which the game is played is usually called a "stadium", which consists mainly of the playing field (the green and brown areas in the picture on the left), and the stands, where the spectators sit to watch the contest. The actual playing field is in the shape of a hand held fan, consisting of an area generally called the "outfield", and a square diamond, called the "infield".  A drawing of the field is shown on the left under the photograph of the stadium. The area outside of the fan shape is called the "foul area" or the "out of play" area.  The "in play" area is the area inside the fan starting from "home base" and extending out in the two straight lines from home base to left and right fields.  The ball hit into this in play area is considered a "fair ball" and "in play".  A ball which falls into the "foul area" outside of the "in play" area, and if not caught by a defensive player, is "not in play" or a "dead ball".  The size of the playing area differs from stadium to stadium. What is standard on all baseball fields is size of the square formed by the four corners of home base, and the 3 bases.  How the ball is put into play is described later. The nine members of the team which is on defense would generally be at the positions shown on the picture at left: 1.  catcher at home base, called home plate; 2. pitcher at pitcher's mound; 3. first baseman; 4. second baseman; 5. third baseman; 6. shortstop; 7. left fielder; 8. center fielder; and 9. right fielder. The team on offense would have, at any one time, a batter at home base, and if they have succeeded in batting successfully, a runner at one or more of the three bases. This then sets the stage for the game, which will be described beginning on the next page.
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