Baseball Rules and Laws
As in other games, baseball has developed The Official Baseball Rules that are now widely accepted as standard. Each team can have nine players. Two teams participate in a game. They alternate between batting or offense and fielding or defense. When they do it once each, it is known as an inning. A visiting team bats first in an inning and there are nine innings in a game.
There are four infielders, three outfielders, a catcher and a pitcher for the defense team. The pitcher throws the ball using fastball, knuckleball or curve tactics from the pitcher's mound to the home plate at a distance of 60.5 ft. The batter will try to hit the ball and reach one of the four bases safely. The fielders try to put out the batter. If a batter does not succeed in hitting three possible playable balls, he is out on strikes. If he misses three pitches then also he is out. The catcher positioned behind the hitter catches the ball if it is not hit. The hitter can walk to the first base if the pitcher throws four pitches out of the strike zone. A batter scores a run when he becomes a runner and passes all bases, finally reaching the home plate in sequence. If three runners or batters are out consecutively, then the fielding team goes in to bat. If the player hits a ball out of the boundary, it is considered a home run.
The defense team can get a player out by the strikeout method when the hitter misses three pitches in the strike zone. The force out is when a fielding player reaches a base with the ball, before the runner does. A fly out occurs when a fielding player catches a ball hit by the hitter, before it lands on the field. When a fielding player touches a runner with the ball or with a glove with the ball in it, it is termed a tag out.
The baseball field or the diamond has boundaries. The primary boundary is known as the foul line and starts from the home plate at an angle of 45 degrees. Area within the 90 degree area of the foul line is the fair territory. The outside area is known as the foul territory. The infield comprises the area within the four bases and several yards beyond. The outfield is the area beyond this territory, demarcated by a fence. The main field of play is the area between the home plate and the outfield boundary.
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