| Baseball is the passion of American sports | | | | In the late nineteenth century, players of |
| lovers and now has fans worldwide. In the | | | | Irish and German extraction shone, followed |
| U.S. it is the oldest and most popular team | | | | by Native Americans in the 1900s. Italians |
| sport. The hype that surrounds it covers the | | | | and Poles rose in the 1920s and 1930s. Blacks |
| rules, the players, the stadiums, and the | | | | joined in from the 1940s and Hispanics |
| history. | | | | surfaced in the 1990s. In the last two |
| | | | decades, player-management strikes caused a |
| Baseball is a team sport in which the ball is | | | | waning of interest in baseball, but interest |
| thrown by a defensive player, called the | | | | was revived after individual shows of |
| pitcher, to an offensive player called a | | | | excellence on the field.Professional baseball |
| batter, who stands at a place called home | | | | leagues were formed in countries other than |
| base and attempts to hit the ball with his | | | | U.S., like the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, |
| bat. Scoring is attained by the batter | | | | Venezuela, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and China, |
| running and touching four points (bases) on | | | | and most European countries. Competition |
| the field without being tagged by a player | | | | between national teams has been monitored by |
| with a ball.Baseball is played between teams | | | | the International Baseball Federation, formed |
| of nine players, usually under the | | | | in 1938, which had 112 countries as members |
| supervision of an umpire. With four bases, | | | | in 1994.Professional leagues are organized at |
| the baseball field forms a square called the | | | | different levels and by different rules. The |
| Diamond. The game is played in nine innings, | | | | Youth League consists of Little League, Dizzy |
| in which each team gets one turn to bat and | | | | Dean Baseball, American Legion Baseball, and |
| to score runs while the other pitches and | | | | USSSA baseball has the Babe Ruth League. In |
| defends. The team with the most runs at the | | | | the U.S., high school trophies are handled by |
| end of the game wins.American baseball is | | | | the National Federation of State High School |
| unique because of many factors. Firstly, it | | | | Associations. At the college level there are |
| does not have a fixed time interval. A team | | | | the NCCA and College World Series.In |
| cannot win without getting the last batter | | | | international competition, the coveted |
| out, and rallies are not constrained by time. | | | | baseball trophies are the World Baseball |
| Though a team sport, it puts individual | | | | Classic and World Cup, coordinated by the |
| players under great pressure. The game | | | | International Baseball Federation. There is |
| requires skill and athleticism, as well as | | | | also the Olympic trophy for baseball, in some |
| strategy and planning.Baseball is believed to | | | | Olympic games. There is semi-professional |
| have evolved from the games of cricket, | | | | baseball called as Independent |
| rounders and town ball. The rules of baseball | | | | Baseball.Professional baseball trophies are |
| are said to have evolved from 'KnickerBocker | | | | for following leagues:Major League Baseball |
| Rules' compiled by Alexander Cartwright in | | | | and Minor League Baseball, the All-American |
| 1845. Professional baseball started in the | | | | Girls Professional Baseball Leagues, Mexican |
| U.S. in 1865 and the National League was | | | | Baseball, Japanese Baseball, Taiwan |
| formed soon after, producing great players. A | | | | professional baseball, Korean Baseball |
| world series was played with an American | | | | Organization and Australian Baseball.Trophies |
| League in 1903.Baseball continued to grow | | | | made of metal or crystal are common, and |
| popular and became a favorite of all races. | | | | figures of pitchers and batsmen are popular. |