BASEBALL

BASEBALL

game played with a bat, a ball, and gloves between two teams of nine players each on a field with four white bases laid out in a diamond (i.e., a square oriented so that its diagonal line is vertical). Teams alternate positions as batters (offense) and fielders (defense), exchanging places when three members of the batting team are “put out.” As batters, players try to hit the ball out of the reach of the fielding team and make a complete circuit around the bases for a “run.” The team that scores the most runs in nine innings (times at bat) wins the game.

The United States is credited with developing several popular sports, including some (such as baseball, gridiron football, and basketball) that have large fan bases and, to varying degrees, have been adopted internationally. But baseball, despite the spread of the game throughout the globe and the growing influence of Asian and Latin American leagues and players, is the sport that Americans still recognize as their “national pastime.” The game has long been woven into the fabric of American life and identity. “It's our game,” exclaimed the poet Walt Whitman more than a century ago, “that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game.” He went on to explain that baseball

has the snap, go, fling of the American atmosphere—it belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly, as our constitutions, laws: is just as important in the sum total of our historic life. It is the place where memory gathers.

Perhaps Whitman exaggerated baseball's importance to and its congruency with life in the United States, but few would argue the contrary, that baseball has been merely a simple or an occasional diversion.

Field of play and equipment

Grounds

In major league playing fields, the distance to the fence from home plate along the foul lines (marking the official limits of the playing field) must be 250 feet (76.2 metres) or more. For fields built after 1958, however, the distance along the foul lines should be at least 320 feet (98 metres), and the distance from home plate on a line through second base to the centre-field fence should be at least 400 feet (121.9 metres). The distance to the stands or fence behind home plate should be at least 60 feet (18.3 metres) but may taper off along the foul lines in the outfield. Coaches' boxes are in foul territory behind first and third base. On-deck circles, where the next batter up in the lineup waits for his turn at bat, are near the team benches.
The playing field is traditionally covered with grass, except for the pitcher's circle, or mound, the base paths, the adjacent infield from first to third base, and the home plate area. The use of an artificial turf, first known as astroturf, was commonplace in the 1970s and '80s, and it is still used in some stadiums. Artificial turf fields are typically covered entirely by the turf, except for dirt areas around the pitcher's plate, home plate, and the bases. Because of the hardness of the artificial turf surface, play on such fields is very fast and balls bounce much higher than on natural grass. New types of artificial turf introduced in the late 1990s offered a softer, more grasslike experience and incorporated the dirt infield found on natural grass fields.
Canvas bags filled with soft material and attached to metal stakes driven into the ground mark first, second, and third base. Home plate is a flat, pentagonal, white slab of rubber embedded flush in the ground.

 

The ball and bat

The ball has a cork-and-rubber core, around which yarn is tightly wrapped; the cover consists of two snugly fitted pieces of white leather sewn together. The circumference is 9 to 9.25 inches (23 to 23.5 cm) and the weight between 5 and 5.25 ounces (142 and 149 grams). The bat is a smooth rounded stick of solid or laminated wood, not longer than 42 inches (107 cm) or thicker at the barrel end than 2.75 inches (7 cm), tapering to the handle end. (Usually, however, in major league baseball, players prefer a bat no longer than 35 inches [89 cm] that weighs about 30 ounces [850 grams] or less.) There is no weight restriction on the bat, but no metal or other reinforcement can be used in construction of the bat. (Amateur players, however, are permitted to use aluminum bats.) The handle may have tape and adhesive material, such as pine tar, applied to it to improve the grip (but such substances may not be applied more than 18 inches [46 cm] from the tip of the handle in major league play).

 

Gloves

Baseball was originally played bare-handed. Beginning in 1860, catchers, who attempt to catch every pitch not hit, became the first to adopt gloves. First basemen, who take many throws for putouts from the infielders, soon followed, and finally all players adopted gloves. All gloves are constructed of leather with some padding. The catcher's glove, or mitt, presents a solid face except for a cleft between the thumb and index finger and is thickly padded except at the centre, where the pitched ball is caught. The glove cannot exceed 38 inches (96.5 cm) in circumference and 15.5 inches (39.4 cm) from top to bottom. The first baseman's glove is thinner and more flexible, a solid expanse of leather for the four fingers with a webbing connecting the thumb and index finger. All other players' gloves are finger gloves with leather straps connecting the thumb and index finger. Form-fitting batting gloves, designed to improve the grip, are now worn by most batters.

 

Protective gear

The catcher wears a helmet, a barred mask with a hanging throat guard, a padded chest protector, and lightweight guards covering the knees, shins, and ankles. The umpire behind home plate wears a similar chest protector and mask. At bat players wear a lightweight plastic batting helmet that flares down over the ears to protect the temples. Groin protection is also worn by male players.

 

Awards

The issuing of annual and career awards is a very serious undertaking in baseball and is done with as much fan scrutiny as any statistical analysis of the sport. Major League Baseball presents several special achievement awards each season. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) is selected in both the American League and the National League. The MVP was first given in 1922; since 1931 the players have been chosen by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). There are also MVP awards for the League Championship Series, the World Series, and the All-Star Game.
For the All-Star Game, which is played annually during baseball's midseason, the starting players from each league are selected by fan ballots. The remaining members of the squad are picked by the two All-Star managers, who are named because their teams appeared in the previous World Series.
The Cy Young Award honours the best pitcher in the National and American leagues. It was first awarded in 1956 to the outstanding pitcher in baseball, but in 1966 the baseball commissioner decided that each league would have its own Cy Young Award. Winners are selected by a vote of the BBWAA.
Begun in 1947, the Rookie of the Year award is given to the best new player in each league. A rookie is defined as a player who meets at least one of the following three criteria: fewer than 130 at bats, fewer than 50 innings pitched, or fewer than 45 days on a major league roster in the previous season. The BBWAA also select these winners.
The Gold Glove is awarded to the best defensive player at each of the nine positions (three outfielders are selected, but no consideration is given as to whether those players covered right, centre, or left field) in both the American League and the National League. The awards were first given in 1957. Players are selected by the managers and coaches of the major league teams, who are not permitted to vote for players from their own team.
The highest honour for a major league baseball player is induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. The first selections were made in 1936 (the Hall actually opened in 1939), and inductees to the hall now include players, Negro league players, managers, baseball executives, and umpires.