Portal:Baseball

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 advancing 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).

The initial objective of the batting team is to have a player reach first base safely; this generally occurs either when the batter hits the ball and reaches first base before an opponent retrieves the ball and touches the base, or when the pitcher persists in throwing the ball out of the batter's reach. Players on the batting team who reach first base without being called "out" can attempt to advance to subsequent bases as a runner, either immediately or during teammates' turns batting. The fielding team tries to prevent runs by using the ball to get batters or runners "out", which forces them out of the field of play. The pitcher can get the batter out by throwing three pitches which result in strikes, while fielders can get the batter out by catching a batted ball before it touches the ground, and can get a runner out by tagging them with the ball while the runner is not touching a base.

The opposing teams switch back and forth between batting and fielding; the batting team's turn to bat is over once the fielding team records three outs. One turn batting for each team constitutes an inning. A game is usually composed of nine innings, and the team with the greater number of runs at the end of the game wins. Most games end after the ninth inning, but if scores are tied at that point, extra innings are usually played. Baseball has no game clock, though some competitions feature pace-of-play regulations such as the pitch clock to shorten game time.

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 spread throughout the rest of the Americas and the Asia–Pacific in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is now 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 on a one-off basis in 2020. (Full article...)

(more...)

Portal:Baseball/Selected biography/January, 2025

Portal:Baseball/Selected article/January, 2025

Portal:Baseball/Selected picture/January, 2025

This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference. Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump.

• July 7, 2008:CC Sabathia was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.
• June 17, 2008: New York Mets fire manager Willie Randolph.
• December 13, 2007: Former United States United States Senator George Mitchell releases a report detailing the use of banned substances by current and former Major League Baseball players. (MLB) (ESPN) (BBC)
• November 15, 2007: Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds is indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco for perjury and obstruction of justice, having allegedly lied under oath about his use of steroids. (AP via ESPN)
• November 6, 2007: The 2007 Baseball World Cup begins in Taiwan. It is scheduled to end November 18.

• ... that Negro league baseball executive Cum Posey organized the East-West League in 1932, but the league folded before the end of the season?
• ... that Freeman Fitzgerald played football with Knute Rockne and once struck out 19 batters in a baseball game?
• ... that despite being named one of the "top prospects of the decade" by Baseball America, American baseball pitcher Nick Neugebauer compiled a career record of just two wins and eight losses?
• ... that Milwaukee Brewers baseball player Dan Thomas was called the "Sundown Kid" because he refused to play on Sabbath?
• ... that when Roger Bresnahan adopted the use of shin guards in Major League Baseball on Opening Day in 1907, angry fans threw snow onto the field?

• We are and have been traveling along a fictitious prosperity for the last two or three years, and the sooner we step down the better it will be for the game and everybody concerned. Next season may not be so good for the owners. Good times have affected their heads and they are unconsciously doing baseball an almost irreparable injury by inflating the price on players as they have this year. There is likely to be a slump in baseball and then some of the owners will wish they had kept the strings tied to their pocketbooks. — American League President Ban Johnson, December 24, 1922.
• When [Scott] Boras talks to Tom Hicks, does he first have to enter a PIN? — Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike DiGiovanna, on free agency negotiations subsequent to the 2006 Major League Baseball season betwixt the two, respectively a sports agent and the owner of the Texas Rangers, theretofore collective brokers of US$383 million in contracts
• If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy!, I hate to lose. — New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, pictured at right, on winning

• Expand a baseball-related stub.
• Help the Players task force by adding Template:Infobox MLB player to active players' articles.
• Rank an unassessed baseball article.

• Basics: Rules - Field positions - Equipment - Ballparks - Baseball statistics - Manager - Umpire (more...)
• History: Origins - History in the United States - History outside the United States - Negro League baseball (more...)
• Players: Babe Ruth - Sadaharu Oh - Jackie Robinson - Roger Clemens - Satchel Paige - Cap Anson (more...)
• Teams: New York Yankees - Cuba national team - Pittsburgh Crawfords - San Francisco Seals (more...)
• Leagues: Major League Baseball - Nippon Professional Baseball - Federal League - New York - Penn League - Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (more...)