The United States and Canada have sports that are not very common here in South America, especially in Brazil, and one of them is baseball. With rules that alternate between offense and defense, the sport becomes interesting from the first understanding of how it works.
The rules of baseball are simple, but full of details that can cause confusion. However, it’s enough to understand the aim of the sport, what the plays are, the style of the pitch, the role of each player and their positions to make it easier to understand.
It all sounds very complex, but we’re here to help you understand the rules of baseball and how the sport works as a whole. Ready?
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Baseball rules: what is the game?
Baseball is a sport that has existed for almost 200 years and is very popular in the United States. In it, nine players from each team travel around a diamond-shaped field to score points through pitching, hitting and defense, passing four bases.
The rules of baseball range from the clothing of the players, who must wear protective equipment, to the way the ball is hit. The main objective of the sport is to score more points than your opponent, of course, and this score is counted from the runs made around the base until you return to the starting position.
Baseball rules: positions
In baseball rules, each team has nine players, and they can play the following roles:
- Pitcher – the pitcher is the main player on a team and is responsible for throwing the ball with great skill so that the opposing team can’t hit it back;
- Hitter – the hitter is the player who will face the other team’s pitcher head-on, with the job of hitting the ball thrown by him;
- First baseman – the first baseman is on defense and is responsible for taking care of his area, in this case first base. Most of the plays go through him;
- Second baseman – the second baseman needs to take care of the position of the same name, and can also help the player at first base;
- Third baseman – the protector of third base, the player can also be involved in double plays with other first basemen, helping his team’s defense;
- Interbases – also known as a shortstop, the interbase player stands between second and third base. This player’s task is considered one of the most challenging in baseball;
- Left field – defends the area to the left, in the outfield;
- Center field – defends a wide area in the outfield;
- Right fielder – defends the area to the left, in the outfield.
Baseball rules: how to score in the game?
Now it’s time to understand the most complex part of baseball’s rules: how scoring is done. Before finding out what is taken into account when scoring points, we need to understand what happens in a game.
A baseball game begins with one team on offense and the other on defense. The pitcher throws the ball to the hitter, who has to hit it. If the hit works, the player must immediately run clockwise around the four bases.
The hitter then passes first, second and third base and returns to the starting point, which is called home plate. If the player manages to complete this run, he scores a point for his team. If the ball flies away from the stadium, it also scores a home run.
Meanwhile, the other team’s defense needs to prevent these runs from being made, and this can happen in various ways. The player can catch the ball in the air or even occupy the bases before the rival does. If the receiver catches the ball, it’s a flyout.
To win matches, players can not only worry about scoring, but also eliminating their opponents. This can be done by hitting the ball three times in a row, known as a strikeout, without the hitter being able to fulfill his task.
Baseball then takes place over nine innings and the team with the most runs scored is the big winner. A match has no set time and can depend on each game, lasting up to three hours.
Baseball rules: equipment
You have to be very well equipped during a game, which guarantees the physical integrity of each player. Therefore, baseball rules require the use of gloves, helmets, masks for the receivers, pectorals and protectors for the genital areas, as well as sunscreen and sunglasses.
To improve the safety of the baseball player, teams can provide items such as knee pads and elbow pads, thus guaranteeing maximum protection combined with comfort. In addition to this equipment, the sport includes the bat and, of course, the ball.
Balls are made of cork, leather, cotton, rubber and wool and can weigh around 140 grams and measure around 23 centimeters. The gloves are also made of leather and are larger than the hand, with plenty of space to house the ball.
Baseball bats, on the other hand, are made of wood, have a cylindrical shape and can measure up to 1.5 meters in length, weighing around one kilo.
Baseball rules: field
One of the most interesting peculiarities of baseball rules is the shape of the pitch. Resembling a diamond, stadiums are between 90 and 109 meters long, with markings for each position.
At the end of the field is the home plate, which forms a square next to the three bases. In the center, we see the space for the defensive pitcher to be positioned. The field is also made up of the infield and outfield, fences and lines, all well delimited so that the match takes place in the best possible way.
What did you think of the rules of baseball? Has it become easier to understand how the game works? So, now that you know the main rules, you can venture into the sport and get to know teams, players, championships and, why not, get to know Brazilian teams.
