Baseball

Note: This is the page for the sport of baseball. For the ball itself, see baseball (equipment). For other uses, see baseball (disambiguation).

Baseball is a member of the bat/ball/base family of games, which makes it a relative of games such as rounders and cricket. It is played at all levels from youth to professional. It has become an international game with great popularity in North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, and status as a minor sport in Australia and parts of Europe.

The Game

According to the Rules of Baseball:

1.01

Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each, under direction of a manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance with these rules, under jurisdiction of one or more umpires.

Baseball has no conventional time limit. Instead, the game is divided into innings, during which each team is given an opportunity on both offense (batting) and defense (fielding). The batting team remains at bat until the fielding team succeeds in recording three outs, after which the teams switch positions. A game is scheduled for a specified number of innings, though it may be extended into extra innings if the score is tied at the end of the scheduled number or innings. It can also be shortened by a mercy rule, or can be called by the umpire because of unsafe playing conditions such as darkness, rain or snow.

"Baseball [is] the most intricate, elegant, and complex team sport there is." – Nick Bakalar

Further Reading

• Alva Noë: Infinite Baseball: Notes from a Philosopher at the Ballpark, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2019. ISBN 9780190928186