A Bit of Background
Baseball was invented by Alexander Joy Cartwright in 1842, the same year when the first baseball Team, the New York Knickerbockers, made their debut. Three years later, Cartwright formulated the rules of the game. Today, some of the rules have changed slightly but the objective remains the same - one team must outscore its opponent in order to win the game. At the end of the day, baseball is still America's favourite pastime and a joy to behold.
Basic Rules and Gameplay
All professional baseball teams are made up of 9 players, and each game is divided into 9 innings. Each team has one chance at-bat and 3 outs per inning. The "away" team bats during the top of the inning, while the home team bats during the bottom of the inning. The team who is at-bat is called the offensive team, and the team in the field is the defensive team, which comprises of the pitcher, a catcher, 4 infielders (i.e. first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop), and 3 outfielders (i.e. left fielder, right fielder, and centre fielder).
To start a game, the pitcher throws the ball overhand to home plate in a variety of deliveries like a fastball, curve ball, and knuckleball. He must be positioned on the pitcher's mound to deliver the balls. The batter hits or attempts to hit the pitches and safely reach base. The fielders try to put the batter out. If the batter misses 3 pitches for whatever reason, he receives a strike. If the pitcher delivers 4 pitches out of the strike zone, the batter can walk to 1st base. Each time a batter successfully hits a ball, makes a run by touching each base in the respective order (i.e. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd), and crosses home plate, the offensive team scores a run. If the defensive team successfully outs 3 batters or runners, the teams exchange places. Some games go into extra innings. In this case, both teams must play until they complete a full inning. The winner is then the team that scores more runs than the other in an equal number of turns at bat.
For rules that govern the playing of baseball games by professional teams of Major League Baseball as well as leagues that are members of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, please visit http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/foreword.jsp