BASEBALL

History
A game from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, c. 1280,
involving tossing a ball, hitting it with a stick and
competing with others to catch it.

The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball

games is difficult to trace with precision.
A French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration
of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with
similarities to baseball. Other old French games such
as thèque, la balle au bâton, and la balle
empoisonnée also appear to be related. Consensus
once held that today's baseball is a North American
development from the older game rounders, popular
in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the
Game (2005), by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England; recently
uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and
early baseball were actually regional variants of each other, and that the game's most
direct antecedents are the English games of stoolball and "tut-ball". It has long been
believed that cricket also descended from such games, though evidence uncovered in
early 2009 suggests that cricket may have been imported to England from Flanders.[4]
The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty
Pocket-Book, by John Newbery. It contains a rhymed description of "base-ball" and
a woodcutthat shows a field set-up somewhat similar to the modern game—though in a
triangular rather than diamond configuration, and with posts instead of ground-level
bases. David Block discovered that the first recorded game of "Bass-Ball" took place in
1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English
lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford, Surrey. This
early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants.
Rounders was also brought to the United States by Canadians of both British and Irish
ancestry. The first known American reference to baseball appears in a 1791  Pittsfield,
Massachusetts town bylaw prohibiting the playing of the game near the town's new
meeting house. By 1796, a version of the game was well-known enough to earn a
mention in a German scholar's book on popular pastimes. As described by Johann
Gutsmuths, "englische Base-ball" involved a contest between two teams, in which "the
batter has three attempts to hit the ball while at the home plate." Only one out was
required to retire a side.

Alexander Cartwright, father of modern baseball

 In 1845, Alexander Cartwright, a member of New York City's Knickerbocker Club,
led the codification of the so-called Knickerbocker Rules. The practice, common to bat-
and-ball games of the day, of "soaking" or "plugging"—effecting a put-out by hitting a
runner with a thrown ball—was barred. The rules thus facilitated the use of a smaller,
harder ball than had been common. Several other rules also brought the
Knickerbockers' game close to the modern one, though a ball caught on the first bounce
was, again, an out and only underhand pitching was allowed. While there are reports
that the New York Knickerbockers played games in 1845, the contest long recognized
as the first officially recorded baseball game in U.S. history took place on June 19,
1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey: the "New York Nine" defeated the Knickerbockers, 23–
1, in four innings. With the Knickerbocker code as the basis, the rules of modern
baseball continued to evolve over the next half-century.

The game turns professional

In the mid-1850s, a baseball craze hit the New York metropolitan area. By 1856,
local journals were referring to baseball as the "national pastime" or "national game." A
year later, sixteen area clubs formed the sport's first governing body, the National
Association of Base Ball Players. In 1858 in Corona, Queens, New York, at the Fashion
Race Course, the first games of baseball to charge admission took place. The games,
which took place between the all-stars of Brooklyn, including players from the Brooklyn
Atlantics, Excelsior of Brooklyn, Putnams and Eckford of Brooklyn, and the All-Stars of
New York (Manhattan), including players from the New York Knickerbockers, Gothams
(predecessors of the San Francisco Giants), Eagles and Empire, are commonly
believed to be the first all-star baseball games. In 1863, the organization disallowed
putouts made by catching a fair ball on the first bounce. Four years later, it barred
participation by African Americans. The game's commercial potential was developing: in
1869 the first fully professional baseball club, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was formed
and went undefeated against a schedule of semipro and amateur teams. The first
professional league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, lasted
from 1871 to 1875; scholars dispute its status as a major league.
A modicum of peace was eventually established, leading to the National
Agreement of 1903. The pact formalized relations both between the two major leagues
and between them and the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues,
representing most of the country's minor professional leagues.[33] The World Series,
pitting the two major league champions against each other, was inaugurated that fall,
albeit without express major league sanction: The Boston Americans of the American
League defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League.[34] The next year, the
series was not held, as the National League champion New York Giants,
under manager John McGraw, refused to recognize the major league status of the
American League and its champion.[35] In 1905, the Giants were National League
champions again and team management relented, leading to the establishment of the
World Series as the major leagues' annual championship event.
Baseball Glove
One of the first things you'll need is a baseball glove.
There a ton of baseball gloves out there from numerous
companies. They come in a wide variety of materials, sizes,
colors, designs, and uses. A catcher uses a mitt, which is typically much larger than a
traditional baseball glove, and designed to catch blazing fastballs from pitchers.
There are youth sized gloves and adult sized gloves. Youth gloves are typically
smaller and made of a little less quality material. The nice thing about them is that
they're cheaper than their adult counterparts. Youth gloves range from $20-$100, and
adult gloves range from $50-$300.
The quality of baseball gloves varies based mostly on the material (usually
leather) that it's made out of. There are some very high end leather gloves on the
market that are north of $500! These gloves are used mostly by professional players.
The number one rule of thumb when looking for a glove for yourself, is to try a
few on to make sure they fit and feel good!

Baseball Bat
You can't really play baseball without a bat! While there is a
ton of fun to be had by just getting your glove on and playing catch
with a friend, the game itself involves hitting and that means a bat.
There are many different kinds of bats and, like gloves,
there are models for youth and adult. Youth bats have smaller
barrels and are a lot lighter. Adult bats are heavier and have
bigger barrels. It's easier to hit the ball more solidly with a bigger
barrel, so my advice is to get a bat that's as big as you can handle.
By handle I mean hold and swing comfortably, and it doesn't feel
like a log in your hands.
There are aluminum and other types of metal bats and
there are wood bats. Most leagues lower than professional
baseball use metal bats. There are some nice advantages to
metal; they hit the ball a little better and they don't break!
Wood bats are beautiful and can be made from a wide
variety of wood. My favorite part of wood bats is the way it sounds
when you hit a ball really hard, there's nothing like it!
Bats range in price from $20-$200 for youth models and can go up to $400 for
adult models, and there are plethora of choices out there for your new bat.

Baseballs
I almost forgot that you'll need balls in order to play! Most baseballs
are made of a rubberized core, wrapped with yarn (very densely), and
covered with full grain leather. There are differences to this with some
balls, and some balls are covered with plastic to make them better for
use in wet weather.
Baseballs are very hard, and weigh 5.25 ounces. They're perfectly
round and designed to throw. If you don't believe me pick one up, I promise you'll feel
like throwing it right away!

Batting Helmet
 If you're going to be playing in a game, or stepping in to try to hit live pitching,
you'll need a helmet. Helmets are made of strong plastic material and have padding on
the inside for safety and comfort.
There are lots of different colors and models to choose from, and they range in
price from $15-$70. Helmets are rated by the miles per hour of the baseball they are
designed to protect you from.

Catchers Gear
If you want to be a catcher, you'll need protective gear.
Catcher's gear consists of leg guards, chest pad, and a
helmet. The gear comes in all the different sizes that you'll
need and is made by many different companies. You can get
a cheap set of gear for under $100, or suit yourself up in the
finest around for about $400.
Catchers get hit by plenty of baseballs over the course
of a baseball game. Hitters foul balls off, pitchers throw them
in the dirt which in turn bounce into the catcher, and all of
them hurt! Without catchers’ gear, don't even think about
getting back there to catch pitches behind a hitter.

FIELD EQUIPMENTS

Bases
The three bases and home plate make up a diamond, with 90
feet between each of the bases. From Home to Second Base is
127' 3 3/8". The distance between the pitcher's rubber and
home plate in baseball is 60 feet, 6 inches. The home plate is
17 inches wide.

Pitcher Mound
The Pitchers Mound is 60' 6" in front of the home plate, in the
line between home plate and second base.

Outfield
The original rules of baseball did not specify the minimum size of the outfield.
Consequently, there are outfields of very differing sizes. Most professional ball parks in
the USA were built to the confines that the city offered them. For example here are
some field sizes:
 o Boston's Fenway: 310 feet in Left - 420 feet in Center - 302 feet in Right
o Detroit's Comerica Park: 345 feet in Left - 420 feet in Center - 330 feet in Right
o Chicago's Wrigley Field: 355 feet in Left - 400 feet in Center - 353 feet in Right
o Houston's Minute Maid Park: 315 feet in Left - 435 feet in Center - 326 feet in
Right

Parts of the Baseball Field

Before we go to dimensions of the baseball field across different leagues, let us be
familiar with the parts of the baseball field. The basic appearance of the baseball field is
a wide area in which the diamond-shaped circuit of four bases are enclosed, like the
illustrated image.

Parts of the Baseball Field

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Throwing - is an essential skill in baseball that requires coordination of the whole body.
Each throw needs to be quick and accurate in order to hinder the opposing team
from scoring.

Hitting - the main goal of the players who hold the bat is to hit the ball and drive it away,
far away from the fielders. By hitting the baseball hard enough, the fielders will be
running after the baseball giving the hitter ample time to run from the plate to the first
base.
Fielding - when the opposing team is batting, the fielders support the pitcher in the field.
The fielder is any defensive player whose goal is to protect his base and secure the
flying baseball in his hands and hold it as firmly as possible.

Catching - the catcher has the most physically and mentally draining task among the
players of baseball. Making split-second-game-changing decisions, the catcher is
considered the coach on the field.

Base Running - one of the vital skills that are often overlooked in a power game like
baseball is base running. Mobility and speed are the crafts that need to be honed for
runners not just in baseball but also in other sports.

Eye – Hand Coordination - coordination is a crucial skill a baseball player needs. During
a game on the field, a batter needs to quickly process visual information in order for
him to measure how he will hit the ball and the amount of force he needs to exert.

TACTICAL SKILLS

Tactical skills can best be defined as “the decisions and actions of players in the
contest to gain an advantage over the opposing team or players”. One way that
coaches can approach teaching tactical skills is by focusing on three critical aspects,
the “tactical triangle”:

 Reading the play or situation

 Acquiring the knowledge needed to make an appropriate tactical decision
 Applying decision-making skills to the problem

Anyone who has observed baseball for any length of time has seen players make
errors in games on plays that they have practiced many times in training sessions. Such
situations can cause tremendous frustration, for both players and coaches. As you will
see, however, these errors can be prevented!

RULES AND REGULATIONS

The Playing Field

Baseball is played on a field with four bases. The bases are arranged in the
shape of a diamond, 90 feet apart from each other. In the middle of the diamond is the
pitcher's mound. The pitcher begins his pitch with his foot on the pitching rubber, which
is 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. Distances between bases and from the mound to
home plate may be shorter when younger participants are involved. In Little League,
home plate is 46 feet from the pitching rubber, and bases are 60 feet apart. Typically, in
professional baseball, a fence anywhere from 300 feet to 400 feet from home plate
marks the boundary of the field.

Game Limits
 At the professional and collegiate levels, there is no time limit for games. Games
are over when nine innings are completed, whether it takes two hours or 10. In high
school and youth leagues, time limits may be installed by the leagues that have
jurisdiction. Having a "time limit" means that a new inning may not start after the time
has expired.

Inning Structure
The batting team tries to score as many runs as it can before the team in the field
can record three outs in a given inning. When three outs are recorded, a team's time at
bat for that inning ends. There are numerous ways to record an out. The batter can hit
the ball and have it caught before it hits the ground (called a fly out). The batter can also
hit the ball on the ground, and if the fielder throws the ball to a player touching the base
before a runner forced to try to advance gets there, the runner is out (called a ground
out). Tagging a player from the batting team with the ball while that player is not on a
base is another way to record an out. A strikeout is also a way to record an out. Getting
outs is the main goal of the pitcher and the team in the field. When the fielding team
records three outs, the inning ends. The team that was hitting then goes in the field, and
the team that was in the field takes its turn at bat.

Strikeouts and Walks

If a pitcher throws three strikes (pitches either in the strike zone, or pitches
missed by the batter when he swings at a pitch), the batter is out. If a pitcher throws four
balls (pitches out of the strike zone in which the batter does not swing), the batter is
awarded first base. A foul ball (hit outside the boundaries of the field) is counted as a
strike against the batter until there are two strikes, at which point subsequent foul balls
do not count as strikes. The exception is if the batter attempted to bunt when he already
has two strikes against him. A foul ball in that instance is recorded as a strikeout.

Scoring Runs
When a runner gets on base, usually by hitting the ball and reaching base safely
or earning a walk, it is the next hitter in the lineup's job to "drive him in." A run is scored
when a runner crosses home plate safely; either being driven in by a hit, an error, a
fielder's choice, or a walk with the bases loaded. A batter can score a run by himself by
hitting a home run, usually accomplished by hitting a ball over the outfield fence. If a
home run is hit, the batter and everybody on base scores. The team that scores more
runs over the course of nine innings wins the game.

Stealing Bases
Once a runner is on base, he may attempt to steal the next base in professional
baseball and many higher levels of the game. A runner does this by making a dash for
the next base once the pitcher pitches the ball. After the pitcher releases the ball, it's the
catcher's job to receive the ball and throw it to the base the runner is trying to steal. If a
fielder receives the throw and tags the runner before he reaches the base, the runner is
out. A pitcher can try to counter a stolen base by attempting to "pick off" the runner
instead of pitching. Picking off consists of making a throw to the base the runner
occupies before he steals, hoping to catch the runner off the base. If the pitcher makes
any move to deceive the base runner, a balk is called, and the runner is awarded the
next base.

OFFICIALS - UMPIRES AND SCORERS

The Umpires
Normally Umpires work in a crew of four, taking it in turns to occupy the role of
"Home Plate Umpire" for that day's game. The home plate umpire is the most important
official in any game. He stands just behind the catcher, and decides whether a pitch is a
strike or a ball.
It is generally acknowledged that whilst the umpires are all supposed to call the
same strike zone, each umpire actually has his own "individual strike zone". The home
plate umpire will normally call a "strike" by throwing his arm out in a sharp manner, or
clenching his fist in an upward motion, whilst a "ball" is called without any signal (if he
doesn't make a signal, it's a ball). His call of a third strike will usually be very
exaggerated.
The first and third base umpires are also responsible for calling whether balls hit
along their lines are "foul" or "fair", though in the playoffs two other umpires are added
to stand in the outfield along the first and third base lines to make outfield calls.
Finally, the first or third base umpire may be called on by the home plate umpire
to advise whether a batter "went around on a check swing". If a hitter starts swinging at
a pitch, and then realizes it's going to be a ball, and checks his swing, then it's only a
strike if he swings his bat in front of him. If he manages to stop the bat before it gets in
front, the swing doesn't count.
The umpires will (usually) work as a team, and if any umpire has any doubt about
a call they'll congregate to discuss the call and make sure they get it right.

The Official Scorer/Fielding Errors

The Official Scorer is not an umpire, and has no part in determining the course of
a game, but some of his decisions may be key for the players concerned, particularly
when contract time comes around!
In Baseball, a key statistic is the "Error" (or "E"), which is defined as "a misplay
(fumble, muff or wild throw) which prolongs the time at bat of a hitter or which prolongs
the life of a runner, or which permits a runner to advance one or more bases". The
Official Scorer is given the guideline that "this must assume an ordinary effort by the
fielder".
In a nutshell, if a fielder makes a mistake which allows a runner to advance, or
prevents him from being out, then he's "charged with an error". The pitcher is then
usually not "held responsible" for that hitter/runner - "he's already done enough to get
him out once, so why should he be penalized for someone else's mistake?" is the logic.