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Mookie Betts hits a pitch by swinging his bat |
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter).
Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century. This game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. Baseball's American origins, as well as its reputation as a source of escapism during troubled points in American history such as the American Civil War and the Great Depression, have led the sport to receive the moniker of "America's Pastime"; since the late 19th century, it has been unofficially recognized as the national sport of the United States, though in modern times is considered less popular than other sports, such as American football. In addition to North America, baseball is considered the most popular sport in parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, teams are divided into the National League (NL) and American League (AL), each with three divisions: East, West, and Central. The MLB champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series. The top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The World Baseball Classic, organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, is the major international competition of the sport and attracts the top national teams from around the world. Baseball was played at the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008, and was reinstated in 2020. (Full article...)
Mookie Betts hits a pitch by swinging his bat |
Adenhart pitching for the Salt Lake Bees in 2008 |
Image 1Pesäpallo, a Finnish variation of baseball, was invented by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala in the 1920s, and after that, it has changed with the times and grown in popularity. Picture of Pesäpallo match in 1958 in Jyväskylä, Finland. (from Baseball)
Image 2Babe Ruth in 1920, the year he joined the New York Yankees (from History of baseball)
Image 3Cy Young--the holder of many major league career marks, including wins and innings pitched, as well as losses--in 1908. MLB's annual awards for the best pitcher in each league are named for Young. (from Baseball)
Image 4Two players on the baseball team of Tokyo, Japan's Waseda University in 1921 (from Baseball)
Image 5A well-worn baseball (from Baseball)
Image 6A first baseman receives a pickoff throw, as the runner dives back to first base. (from Baseball)
Image 7Sadaharu Oh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959-80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs. (from Baseball)
Image 8Cover of Official Base Ball Rules, 1921 edition, used by the American League and National League (from Baseball rules)
Image 9Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Green Monster is visible beyond the playing field on the left. (from Baseball)
Image 10The American Tobacco Company's line of baseball cards featured shortstop Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 to 1911. In 2007, the card shown here sold for $2.8 million. (from Baseball)
Image 11A New York Yankees batter (Andruw Jones) and a Boston Red Sox catcher at Fenway Park (from Baseball)
Image 12Diagram of a baseball field Diamond may refer to the square area defined by the four bases or to the entire playing field. The dimensions given are for professional and professional-style games. Children often play on smaller fields. (from Baseball)
Image 13Sadaharu Oh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959-80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs. (from History of baseball)
Image 14Alexander Cartwright, father of modern baseball (from History of baseball)
Image 15Jackie Robinson in 1945, with the era's Kansas City Royals, a barnstorming squad associated with the Negro American League's Kansas City Monarchs (from Baseball)
Image 16Defensive positions on a baseball field, with abbreviations and scorekeeper's position numbers (not uniform numbers) (from Baseball)
Image 17David Ortiz, the batter, awaiting a pitch, with the catcher and umpire (from Baseball)
Image 19An Afghan girl playing baseball in August 2002 (from Baseball)
Image 20A game from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, c. 1280, involving tossing a ball, hitting it with a stick and competing with others to catch it (from History of baseball)
Image 21In May 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay pitched the 20th major league perfect game. That October, he pitched only the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history. (from History of baseball)
Image 22The NL champion New York Giants baseball team, 1913. Fred Merkle, sixth in line, had committed a baserunning gaffe in a crucial 1908 game that became famous as Merkle's Boner. (from History of baseball)
Image 23Jackie Robinson in 1945, with the era's Kansas City Royals, a barnstorming squad associated with the Negro American League's Kansas City Monarchs (from History of baseball)
Image 24Rickey Henderson--the major leagues' all-time leader in runs and stolen bases--stealing third base in a 1988 game (from Baseball)
Image 25Babe Ruth in 1920, the year he joined the New York Yankees (from Baseball)
Image 26The Tampere Tigers celebrating the 2017 title in Turku, Finland (from Baseball)
Runzler with the San Francisco Giants on Opening Day in 2011 |
Anderson with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in 2021 |
"We're so bad right now that for us back-to-back home runs means one today and another one tomorrow."
-- Earl Weaver
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2007 National League All-Star Final Vote winner Chris Young warming up in the Wrigley Field bullpen. |
Credit: Keith Allison |
Andrew Eugene "Andy" Pettitte; born June 15, 1972) is an American former baseball starting pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the New York Yankees. He also pitched for the Houston Astros. Pettitte won five World Series championships with the Yankees and was a three-time All-Star. He ranks as MLB's all-time postseason wins leader with 19.
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