Baseball is a term derived from the English "baseball", it is a team sport that takes place between 2 groups, each one made up of 9 players. This sport enjoys great popularity in mostly Caribbean countries and North America, such as Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the United States, Mexico and Canada, however, it is important to mention that in some Asian countries they are fine. a sport very often. This sport is quite old however the gameas it is known today it was developed at the beginning of the 18th century, both by children and by amateur players. In Cuba specifically, this sport is one of the most popular on the Caribbean island, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators to the stadiums and millions of followers through the media such as radio and television.
Baseball history
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The history of baseball is centered for the most part within the territory of the United States, however, it has managed to spread to other continents, such as Asia, Europe, Oceania, among others. Finding the exact origin of baseball is undoubtedly something very complicated, despite the fact that most historians who specialize in this sport conclude that it is a game that has evolved from other games with similar characteristics.
There is a story that Abner Doubleday, an officer in the Union Army during the United States Civil War, was responsible for creating baseball at the Cooperstown location in New York in 1839. However, they do not exist. Some evidence to support this story, however, an interesting fact is the fact that the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Cooperstown. However, in this story about the origin of baseball, there is a large amount of evidence where reference is made to the words "baseball" and "bat and ball", documents that date back to the 17th century. The first verified reference being some documents where the word Baseball appears dating from the year 1744, almost 100 years before Abner Doubleday invented it as the story tells.
How Baseball is Played
This sport takes place on a large field completely covered by grass or grass, either artificial or natural, except for an area known as the corridor's line, a strip through which the players who play must run. on the offensive and whose objective is to reach the base (rhombus-shaped objects that are located at the vertices of the area known as the diamond) to score the run in that way. Likewise, another of the areas that does not have grass is the so-called pitcher's hill (a small mountain-shaped terrain located in the middle of the diamond on which the pitcher is arranged) the objective of the game itself is to make contact with the ball using a baseball batthat has special characteristics for its function. It is a sculpted piece of wood whose base is thinner and that widens towards the tip.
The bat must be wielded by an individual who is called a batter and who must make contact with the ball so that it travels towards the field of play, once this happens the batter must try to reach the base that It is up to him, always with the objective of reaching as many bases as possible, always having the objective of going around the diamond, that is, he must finish where he started and thus score a run, which in other sports could be called as both. Meanwhile, the players in the defensive positions must look for the ball that has been hit to the field and try to eliminate the batter, or any runner who is on the bases, trying to avoid that they can reach the bases first or that they manage to score. somewhat.
Basically a baseball game is intended to hit the ball and put it into play so that it travels, while that happens the individual who hit the ball must run through the bases in order to score a run. It is important to mention that in baseball games there is no such thing as a draw as in other sports. In baseball there must always be a winner, if in the 9 innings that a baseball game lasts the score has not been defined for either of the two participants, the game will continue until there is finally a winner.
According to experts, there is evidence that indicates that games have been played since ancient times that involve the use of a stick and a ball. Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptian, the Persian or the Greek, played games with sticks and balls as part of some ceremonies and also have fun. In the same way, these games also spread during the Middle Ages, especially in European countries, which would end up taking them to the American colonies during the 15th century.
Despite some versions that have spread about the origin of baseball, there are various references to the term baseball and bat and ball, there in different writings of the 18th century. What is called the origin of baseball should really be called the evolution of baseball, since according to the findings found by historians specialized in the game, it can be said that it is an adaptation of the so-called "stool ball" that is It dates back to the Middle Ages and at the same time it derives from the ancient rituals that were performed in ancient times.
In countries like Mexico, baseball is a sport of great prestige and importance, the Mexican baseball league, for example, it is one of the highest level professional baseball tournaments during the summer season in Mexico. This league is closely connected with the so-called minor leagues of the United States which are cataloged with the AAA classification, just one notch below the world famous Major League Baseball or also known by its acronym in English MLB (Major league baseball), but unlike the other triple-A leagues such as the International League and the Pacific Coast League, the Mexican league groupings are not affiliated with the major league teams. Likewise, the Mexican league belongs to the world softball and baseball confederation, they have their own talent development center,known as the academy "engineer Alejo Peralta y Díaz Ceballos" located in the province of Nuevo León. Because it is the oldest and highest-ranking league in Mexico, it is the one with the highest coverage by television stations and by media.
The Major League Baseball or also known as Major League Baseball, is the professional baseball league most prestigious and level around the world, is held in the United States. At present this league is made up of 30 teams which are divided into 2 leagues, the first is the American League and the National League, which were founded in 1901 and 1876 respectively, once the champions of the league, both teams must face in a final known as the World Series, with the team that wins 4 out of 7 matches being the winner.
At first, both the national league and the American league were considered independent legal entities, however, in 2000 both leagues decided to legally merge into what is now known as the MLB, which is chaired by the league commissioner..
On the other hand, there is also the World Baseball classic, a tournament of international stature created by Major League Baseball itself, in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Players Association and some professional leagues from different parts of the world. This is the first tournament of its kind in which the baseball teams of each country must bring together the figures who stand out in the most relevant leagues in the world. The event was organized as an alternative to eliminating baseball as an Olympic sport in 2005, a decision made by the international Olympic committee. The first tournament was held in 2006 and since then it has become a major sporting event around the world, with less impact in the United States. In its first two editions, it was one of the most watched sporting events on Japanese television in all of its history.
In the first division, one of the elections that became a surprise outside of South Korea, which managed to reach the semifinals undefeated, however in that instance it was eliminated by Japan, thus obtaining its pass to the final. For its part, Cuba did the same against the Dominican Republic, getting their place in the final. In the final match, Japan won 10 runs by 6 over Cuba, crowning itself as the first champion of this tournament. By 2009, the teams that managed to go to the first big were the same as the first edition except the Netherlands, which despite being considered a weak team managed to defeat the Dominican Republic twice, advancing to the second round. In this edition, Japan and the United States reached the final, a game where Japan would prevail, crowning for the second time in a row as champion of the classic.
In the first editions of the world classic, 16 teams were shortlisted, however, in the 2013 edition that modality was changed and only the 12 teams that had won at least one match in the 2009 edition were assured the place. that the other four teams had to participate in a previous round point with 12 more teams, this modality gave as a result that 2 nine teams could participate in the tournament, which were Spain and Brazil. The tournament broadcasts the Dominican Republic will be crowned as champion, which also did so without losing any game.
Baseball Rules
The main or basic rules of baseball are quite simple, however, it must be clarified that there are a large number of rules, but most of them are adjusted to specific situations of the game. Seen from a general plane the game is basically about a team of batters must hit the ball with the bat, which will allow them to advance through the bases until completing a goal or a run, this must be before the team in defense have the ball.
With regard to the size of the playing field, the rule indicates that the diamond must be delimited by a corridor that forms a square 27 m long, marked by a line made with lime. At the tip where the batter is now a small pentagon-shaped plate known as the home plate. In the other three corners will be arranged the pads that are called bases and that are numbered in an anticlockwise direction. In that same sense, the players who are on offense at that time must run all three bases and finally reach home again to score a run.
For its part, the diamond line that runs from home plate to first base and home plate to third base extends about 97.5 meters or 320 feet, which gives the field of play an extra space that is behind the bases..
In that space that crosses the bases it is known as outfield, which in Spanish is known as gardens, while the diamond is called infield. Both the infield and the outfield make up what is known as the fair zone, which is the valid zone for the game, while the zones that are out of bounds are called the foul zone.
Objective of the game
The object of the game is to try to score the most runs and outnumber your opponent in the number of runs at the end of 9 innings. This is achieved by hitting the ball with the bat and trying to move the ball back from the field, so that the player who hits it must run through the diamond through each of the bases, always with the objective of reaching as many as possible. of possible bases until turning around, reaching the base from where it was batted and thus scoring a run. This happens at the same time that defensive players try to reach for the ball that was hit, in order to eliminate the possible batter and runners who may be found on the bases before they can score a run.
If at the end of the 9 innings the score remains based on the number of runs, it will be necessary for the game to extend the time necessary to decide a winner, since according to the rules of the game there is no tie.
How the game unfolds
The number of players per team is 9When a team is on offense, each of the members will get a turn to bat if possible to score a run by running through the bases. On the other hand, defensive players must occupy a specific position on the field. The pitcher for his part must stand in the middle of the diamond and from there make the pitches of the ball towards the home plate, where the batter is also available to try to make contact with the ball. In the same way, behind the home plate the catcher or receiver is located and is responsible for receiving the pitches made by the pitcher in case the batter does not make contact with the ball. There must also be a player at each base, and he is named by the base he guards, whether it be first, second, or third base.
There is a position that is called shorts top and it is the player who is located between second and third base. Finally, and to complete the group of 9 are the gardeners also called outfielders, located as their name implies in the outfield, either central, left and right.
Another of the basic rules in which it indicates that the home team must start playing defense. In the event that a batter misses when he tries to hit the ball, said failure is counted and is called a strike, in the event that the batter accumulates three, he draws lose on his turn and will be counted as a car, with another player taking his place. offense, this as long as 3 outs have not been completed, since when players lose their turn, the team's offensive turn ends and therefore the team that was in defense will go on to attack and vice versa.
Also, it should be noted that if the batter makes no attempt to hit the ball, but the ball passes through the strike zone, it will be counted as a strike, however, if the ball is outside said zone it is counted as balls. For this to be decided in the most equitable way, it is necessary that the referee known as a parent make the assessment of the play. The man is behind the catcher so he has a good perspective on the action. When an offensive player accumulates 4 balls, he is awarded first base and at that moment he becomes a running player, this can also happen when the ball thrown by the pitcher hits the batter, this will occur as long as the batter does not get in the way. obvious way in the trajectory of the ball. If the batter contacts the ball and it lands in the foul zone, the play will not be considered valid, however, if the first two times are considered a strike,but the following times will not count as such. It should be mentioned that if a defensive player catches the ball in the foul zone before it makes contact with himground the batter is put out and loses his turn.
When the batter hits the ball and it lands in the fair zone, he automatically becomes a runner, he must drop the bat and try to reach first base, while the defensive players must try to catch the ball and touch the runner with she, or failing that, step on the base before the runner, with the ball in her power. In case the player with the ball is very far from the base, he will have the possibility of throwing it to another player who is closer to it, so that he can aut the runner.
When an offensive player is not on the base and is touched by a defensive player, he is automatically outThe same happens if the runner moves towards a base and a defensive player who has the ball steps on the base before the runner. The runner must advance to the next base my mandatory way if on an offensive play some other runner attempts to reach his base from a previous base.
If a batter makes contact with the ball, but a defensive player catches it before it touches the ground, the batter is out. Likewise, if the ball is hit by the batter and it leaves the limits of the field through the fair zone, it is considered a home run or home run. Which gives the runner the right to travel all the bases and score a run for his team.
Baseball field
A professional baseball field must be completely uniform, firstly, the square that makes up the infield must have 90 feet on each side, while the field or open field is formed by the so-called foul list, which extends two from the sides of the box.
a field must be constructed so that the bases are at the same level as home plate. According to the rules, a professional baseball field must have a minimum length of at least 325 feet, between home plate and the barrier closest to the line of foul, both from left and right field, while the length must be of at least 400 feet between home plate and the barrier closest to center field. Despite this, it is possible to find dimensions of fields that are pets or longer than those specified. With respect to the mound, according to the rules of the major leagues, it must be at least 5.5 m in diameter, with a center 18 m from the back of home plate, located on the line between second base and home plate..
Baseball world series
The world series of baseball for its part is the name that receives the final series of the postseason in major league baseball, which is played between the champions of both the American league and the national league. This is traditionally played in the month of October And for that reason it is also known as the October classic or the autumn classic. The winner of the series is the team that manages to win 4 out of 7 games, however, in some years there were some exceptions, such as in 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921, where he was the winner and had to win 5 demo games. The fall classic has been played every year since 1903, except for the years 1904 and 1994. Of all the major league baseball teams, the one that accumulates the most titles are the New York Yankees, who have managed to win the league title. world series 27 times. Regarding the 1994 world series, it could not be carried out because of a players' strike that caused the season to end on August 30 of that year.
