Baseball is a beloved sport that has been around for centuries. It is a batting and ball game played on a field by two teams against each other. In baseball, a player from one team throws a small round ball at a player from the other team who tries to hit it with a bat. Then, the player who hits the ball has to run across the field.
Players race in a full circle around three points on the ground called bases, to return to where they started, called home plate. They have to do it without getting caught by the other team's players. Baseball has had an immense impact on American culture and society. It has reformed the nation's calendar, providing people with an experience of time in its association with the hours of the day, the natural rhythms of the seasons and the traditional church calendar.
It has also served as a powerful integrative force, fostering ties between different social and cultural divisions. Baseball parks have become important local civic monuments and repositories of collective memories. At-bats are an important part of baseball. A ball is a pitch outside the strike zone and is not thrown by a batter.
If a player accumulates four balls in a single at-bat, he will get an exit. A walk is a free pass. Teams alternate positions as batters (attack) and field players (defense) and swap places when three members of the batting team are “eliminated”. As batters, players try to hit the ball out of reach of the field team and make a complete circuit around the bases to “run”.
The team that scores the most runs in nine innings (times at bat) wins the game. In recent years, baseball has faced stiff competition from other professional sports, as well as from private distractions at home. Player strikes, free agency, disparities in competition, and the rising cost of attending games have all added to major league baseball's problems. However, baseball continues to show remarkable resilience; attendance at professional games improved and attendance at minor league games was close to World War II records at the turn of the century.
Baseball is an exciting sport that has been enjoyed by millions of people around the world for centuries. It is an integral part of American culture and society, providing people with an experience of time in its association with the hours of the day, the natural rhythms of the seasons and the traditional church calendar. It has also served as a powerful integrative force, fostering ties between different social and cultural divisions.
