Baseball

Baseball is one of the many common sports being played worldwide. It is not certain whether the English or Americans were the first to introduce the game. It was in 1744 that the term base-ball was referenced in a book called A Little Pretty Pocket-Book written by John Newbery, a British author. It is undetermined if it is the same baseball game that we know but the illustration in that book somehow depicts the same setup of the baseball that is being played today. On the other hand, it was in Massachusetts that a discussion about baseball was published in 1791.

The earliest recorded year that baseball was officially played was in the 1860s in the United States. It was in 1869 when a professional baseball club was created. It was the Cincinnati Red Stockings who first made a group that became a famous and undefeated team. Amateur and semi-professional teams went against them but failed. After a few years of baseball games, people started calling baseball a National Pastime in the United States.

It was in 1871 that the first major league game was held. It was the National Association that organized the first baseball league in the world. Another baseball league that came into the picture was the American League. It used to be a minor league back in 1893 but became a major national baseball league in 1901. In the 1920s, the legendary Babe Ruth started playing the game. For many baseball fans, Babe Ruth is the most talented hitter in the history of the game, and a most illustrious ambassador in his days. He has shown the world his power hits and that has somewhat led to changes in rules and regulations of baseball.

Now that you’ve heard so much about the history of baseball, you still might not know what the game is all about. As in most games, there are two teams with nine players each. The surface or area where they are playing is called the baseball diamond. The baseball field has four bases forming a shape of a diamond. These bases are numbered counter-clockwise starting from the right corner of the diamond which is the first base. The last is the home base.

The objective is to bat the ball so that it cannot be caught easily by the opposing team. While the ball is chased, the batter has to go through all the bases to make a home run or to score. When the ball is caught, the player is safe if he is touching the plate of a certain base no matter which. But if the ball is caught and thrown to another opponent in a base where he’s heading, he’s out and won’t be able to score. If you want to know more, you can search about baseball online.