Baseball is a game that is played by two teams of nine players each. The team that scores the most runs wins the game. In the event of a tie, both teams play extra innings until a winner is determined.
The basic rules of baseball are simple: batters try to hit a ball with a bat and runners run to the bases. The fielding team tries to catch and throw the ball out of the way of the base runner.
When a batter is at the plate, they can only swing at a maximum of three balls or strikes before being out. If they swing at a ball that is within a certain area (called the ‘strike zone’), they will get a strike. They can also hit a ball into foul territory (where it isn’t legal) and be out.
In addition, if they hit a ball that bounces on the ground and is caught by a fielder before it hits the base, they are out. The runner can then move to another base.
The base lines that connect the bases are made of dirt, so that a runner can safely decelerate as they step on each of them. However, if the runner runs past first base and makes a move towards second base, they can be tagged out by the defense.
During the game, there are 9 positions on the fielding team: a pitcher, catcher, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman and three outfielders at left, centre and right fields. Each of the team’s members wear a helmet, padded leg guards, a body pad and a glove called a mitt.
To win a game, each team must outscore their opponent by scoring more points over the course of 9 innings. Each inning ends when one team has recorded three outs.
Each team has a different order of players in its lineup, and the first player on that team starts the game. The team may change its lineup if there are any players who are injured or unavailable for the game.
Once the game begins, the teams take turns batting. The team batting will try to score as many runs as possible by hitting the ball into the field and safely crossing all four bases.
In order to do this, they must make it around all of the bases before the fielding team can throw the ball out of the way of the runner. Alternatively, the team batting can simply run to any of the bases and wait for a teammate to hit the ball before they can start running again.
After the batting team has scored, their team will switch places with the defensive team. The defensive team will then try to keep the batting team from scoring by getting outs, such as catching fly balls, fielding ground balls and tagging out a runner before they can cross a base.
The batting team will then send one player up to home plate at a time. The team will then continue this order until all of its players have batted. Then the team will switch to the next position on their roster and the game will begin again.