Baseball Basics

It is much more enjoyable watching the game of baseball if you understand the basics of the game. I don't want to overwhelm you with too much (and please forgive me if this is too basic for some of you), but here are the bare bones basics:

Baseball is played on a field shaped like a diamond. Really, it's just the infield where the bases are that looks like a diamond, with a semi-circle on one side which is the outfield. In this picture, the infield is grey and the outfield is green. Also, you can see in the diagram that on the four corners of the diamond there are first, second and third bases and home plate (where it is labeled "Catcher"). The batter stands at home plate while the pitcher (in the middle of the diamond) throws the ball and the batter tries to hit it. Teams and fans make it a point to keep up with the speed at which the pitcher can throw the ball. The teams actually use a type of radar gun behind home plate to clock the ball speed. Most pitchers can throw a baseball between 70 and 95 mph.

If you take a look at a team roster, you may see something that looks like code next to each player's names, like 1B, OF, or RHP. This "code" actually stands for the position that player normally plays. Players tend to specialize in one, maybe two positions and it is not that common for them to move around very much. The differents positions are:

1B - First Base

2B - Second Base

3B - Third Base

SS - Short Stop

C - Catcher

OF - Outfielder
**can also be RF (Right Field) LF (Left Field) and CF (Center Field)

RHP - Right Handed Pitcher

LHP - Lefthanded Pitcher

Okay, now we know who is who and where. Now, let's talk about the basic playing of the game. The numbers to remember are:

9 innings in a ball game (extra innings if there is a tie)

3 outs in an inning for each team

3 strikes makes an out

4 balls make a walk

Baseball games normally are played for 9 innings. In one inning, players on a team take turns batting (in the batting order) until there are three outs. Then the other team has a turn to bat. An out means that the player missed hitting the ball three times when it was in the strike zone. It doesn't matter if the batter tried to hit it or not. They can strike out by missing the ball or they can strike out "looking", which means that they did not swing the bat. When a ball is thrown outside of the strike zone, it is a "ball". Four balls means the player gets to go to 1st base or "walk". Umpires are positioned behind the catcher, and in the edge of the outfield close to 1st and 3rd base. The umpires job is to call strikes or balls. It is very entertaining to watch fans argue over whether the umpire made the right call and it is very common for fans to disagree with the calls.