Baseball is an immensely popular American game, known as the "national pastime," played between two teams of nine players each.  The basic implements used in the game are a leather-covered ball, wooden bats for hitting the ball, and gloves for catching it.  Baseball is played on a large scale in Latin America, Japan, and other places besides the United States, but it is in the United States that it thrives most both as a participant's and spectator's sport.  It is played at its highest level in the United States and two Canadian cities, where 26 teams make up the American and National Leagues (each with two divisions, East and West).  Combined, these leagues are called major-league (professional) baseball. 
    Most players who reach the major leagues have worked their way up through Little League, scholastic, college, and minor-league (professional) ball.  The vast majority of major-league players are American-reared, although since the 1960s the sport has seen an influx of Latin American players. 
Following a regular season of 162 games, the division winners vie for each league's pennant;  the American and National League champions then compete in the World Series.  Both rounds of competition employ best-of-seven series of games. 
    Baseball's popularity is in part a result of the fact that almost every American boy plays the game at one time or another, and the lore of the game is intertwined with American life.  Baseball has supplied the American culture with a wide range of legendary heroes, as well as books, magazines, movies, and songs.  The game has contributed hundreds of words and phrases to the American language. 
The History of Baseball 
    The popular myth that Abner DOUBLEDAY invented baseball in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1839, is without foundation.  Actually, baseball evolved from cricket and rounders, with town ball and the New York game, popular in the eastern United States by the 1820s, as intermediaries. 
On June 19, 1846, a New York team defeated the Knickerbocker Baseball Club of New York, which had drafted (1845) rules establishing the nine-player team and the four-base diamond. The score at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, N.J., that day was 23-1 in four innings. 
In 1857 a convention of baseball clubs established the length of a game as nine innings instead of 21 runs.  One year later the first organized league, the National Association of Base Ball Players, was formed. 
    The first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, won 91 and tied 1 of their first 92 games in 1869-70.  Their success helped spread professionalism, and the National Association of Professional Base-Ball Players operated a loose league for five years (1871-75) until the owners formed the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs in 1876 and made baseball a business. 
    The independent American Association (1882-91) prospered by allowing Sunday games and the sale of beer in the stadium. Both leagues survived the rival Union Association's challenge in 1884, but in 1890 the athletes formed the Players League, which financially pressed the National League and mortally wounded the American Association.  In 1892 the eight-team National League absorbed four American Association teams, but it reverted to eight teams after 1899. 
In 1901 the American League declared itself a major league, invaded National League cities, and raided the older league for players.  The result of the eventual truce was the World Series, which has been played every year since 1903--except 1904, when the New York Giants refused to meet the American League champions (Boston). 
    The major leagues successfully met the challenge of the Federal League (1914-15).  But further problems arose with the revelation that eight members of the Chicago White Sox had conspired to throw the 1919 World Series to Cincinnati.  Only the appointment of Judge Kenesaw Mountain LANDIS as commissioner and the introduction of a livelier ball saved the game.  Landis enforced strict regulations regarding integrity of players, and the livelier ball significantly increased the number of crowd-pleasing home runs. 
    Star players, reared in a minor-league system that comprised 59 leagues in 1949, increased baseball's popularity and caused it to be called America's pastime.  The annual All-Star Game between teams composed of the best players in each league was begun in 1933. 
The introduction of night baseball (1935) and the entry to the majors of black players (1947), previously consigned to all-black leagues, changed the style of play and expanded the potential talent pool.  Then, during the 1950s, dramatic organizational changes occurred.  In 1950 a $6-million World Series television contract made baseball the financial giant among sports, but baseball thereby became inordinately dependent on television.  In 1953 the National League Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee, and one year later the American League St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles, breaking up a roster of cities that had remained constant for 50 years. 
    In 1958 the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the New York Giants moved to San Francisco, making big-league baseball a truly national game.  The American League added two cities in 1961;  the National League did the same in 1962.  In 1969 both leagues added more teams and set up divisional play, with the winners playing a best 4-out-of-7 championship to determine the World Series contestants.  The American League added two teams in 1977, and the National League added two more in 1993. 
The active teams are:  National League East--Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. 
    National League West--Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants. American League East--Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays. American League West--California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners. 
    Baseball's popularity diminished somewhat in the 1960s and early '70s, particularly with the rise of professional football, but rose strongly through the late '80s.  Baseball remains popular, but fan support has waned slightly due to labor disputes (players' strikes in 1980, 1981, and 1985, an owners' lock-out in 1990) and increasing salary demands by players. 
 
 
 
 

Playing the Game 

    Baseball is played on an area divided into an infield of standard proportions and an outfield of varied dimensions.  The infield is square, with 90 ft (27.4 m) on each side.  The corner farthest from the outfield fence is home plate, and the other bases--first, second, and third--run counterclockwise. The pitcher's mound, an 18-ft (5.5-m) circle inclining upward toward a small rectangular rubber slab in the center, lies inside the square 60 ft 6 in.  (18 m) from home plate.  The outfield ends at an outer fence, the distance of which from home plate varies with the shape of the field.  It is usually about 76 to 137 m (250 to over 450 ft). 
The teams play nine innings, alternating in the field and at bat, with the home team batting last.  The infielders--first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, and third baseman--usually position themselves along the two sides of the square between first and second and second and third bases.  The outfielders--left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder--cover the respective portions of the outfield.  The pitcher stands on the rubber, and the catcher crouches behind the batter.  The American League decided in 1973 to allow a 10th player, a designated hitter, to bat for the pitcher.  U.S. colleges also adopted the rule. 
The team at bat sends its nine men to the plate in a specified sequence.  Each batter attempts to hit the pitcher's deliveries, which the latter tries to vary in speed and in placement within the strike zone (the area over home plate and between the batter's knees and armpits).  Substitutions are allowed throughout the game but preclude a player's return. 
    The defending players wear a leather glove on one hand.  The catcher's glove, the largest (up to 38 in/96.5 cm in circumference and 15.5 in/39.4 cm from top to bottom), is round and heavily padded.  The first baseman's mitt is more flexible and has one compartment for the thumb and another for the other fingers.  The remaining players use gloves with separate compartments for each finger and a webbing between the thumb and index finger. 
The bat, up to 2.75 in (7 cm) thick and 42 in (106.7 cm) long, is round and wooden (in amateur games, aluminum is allowed). The ball consists of three layers:  a cork-and-rubber sphere forms the central core;  woolen yarn is then tightly wound around the core;  and a leather casing is stitched together around the whole.  A regulation baseball is 9-9.25 in (22.9-23.5 cm) in circumference and weighs 5-5.25 oz (141.7-148.8 g). 
Each team's half-inning consists of three outs.  An out occurs most commonly when a ball is caught before bouncing (a fly ball), when a ground ball is caught and thrown to first base before the batter arrives, when a base runner is not touching a base and is tagged by a fielder holding the ball, when a fielder who has the ball touches a base other than first when there is a runner approaching that base and each previous base, when a player has left a base and is unable to get back before a caught fly ball is thrown to the base, and when the pitcher gets three strikes on a batter. 
A strike is any pitch at which the batter swings and misses, any pitch that travels through the strike zone, and any batted ball that lands outside the straight lines running from home plate through first base and from home plate through third base to the outfield fence (called a foul).  If the batter already has two strikes, a foul is not considered a strike unless it is a foul bunt or a tipped foul caught by the catcher before it bounces. 
The team at bat tries to get players on base and advance them until they round all four bases to score runs.  The team with more runs after nine innings wins.  If the score is tied at the end of nine innings, the teams play extra innings until one team scores more than the other and both teams have had an equal number of turns at bat. 
    A batter reaches base if hit by a pitch, if he or she receives a walk by taking four pitches (called balls) outside the strike zone, if a defensive player misplays the ball for an error, if the catcher interferes with a swing, and if the catcher fails to catch the pitcher's throw on a third strike and does not throw the ball to first base before the batter reaches the base.  But the most common way of reaching base is with a hit. 
Hits come in many forms:  deliberately gentle bunts to unreachable parts of the infield, hard-hit ground balls that travel between infielders, bloopers popped in an arc beyond the infield but out of the outfielders' reach, line drives in front of or between the outfielders, and clouts smashed over the fence.  Both the batter and runners may advance as far as possible on any hit.  A one-base hit is a single, a two-base hit a double, a three-base hit a triple, and a four-base hit a home run.  The most common kind of home run is a fair ball over the fence on a fly, but a batter may also run around all the bases before the fielders can retrieve a ball hit inside the park and throw it to the plate. 
    Runners may also advance by stealing a base, on a balk (improper procedure by a pitcher), on a sacrifice (a bunt intended to move the runner even though the batter will be out), or on a sacrifice fly (a fly ball caught by an outfielder but not returned to the proper base before the runner reaches it--provided the runner does not leave his or her original base before the ball is caught). 
Four umpires, one near each base, regulate the game, enforce the rules, and call balls and strikes, foul and fair balls, and safe or out.  The umpires may also eject players from the game for improper behavior and call a forfeit for serious infractions.  Some amateur games have only one or two umpires; the Championship Series between the American and National leagues, and the World Series have six. 
Baseball has two basic styles of play.  Inside baseball, prevalent until the 1920s, emphasizes speed, defense, and good pitching.  The second style emphasizes power hitting.  The New York Yankees dominated baseball with the latter, winning 29 pennants and 20 World Series between 1921 and 1964.  The use of relief pitchers and artificial turf has returned inside baseball to favor, but power hitting remains an appealing factor in the game. 
Reviewed by Jim Benagh 
 
 
 
 

Captions 

    Baseball, at its most fundamental level, requires only a bat, or tapering cylinder of wood, and a ball, usually a multilayered sphere covered with hide.  Formal competition requires considerably more specialized equipment, either for protection or to enhance an athlete's performance. Outfielders, pitchers, and infielders wear a standard fielding glove, except for the first baseman, whose glove is adapted for this position. At the plate, a batting helmet is worn, its single flap covering the ear and temple closest to the pitcher. Shoes are light, strong, and cleated for added traction.  The catcher's mitt, wider and less flexible than other fielding gloves, has additional padding to protect its wearer's hand.  A catcher's mask affords protection for the face, while the body is guarded by a chest protector and shin guards.  During a game, the plate umpire is positioned behind the catcher, where both the batter and the pitcher can be observed.  Like the catcher, the umpire wears protective gear.  Once the ball is pitched, the batter attempts to drive it along a path that will elude the defense presented by the outfielders and infielders or over the outfield fence in fair territory before touching the ground. 

Henry Aaron (1934-  ) hit the most home runs (755) in the history of American Major Leage Baseball. Aaron, an outfielder, spent most of his 23-year career with the Atlanta Braves of the National League. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982, his first year of eligibility. 

Ty Cobb (1886-1961), who played the outfield for the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics, excelled in almost every area of baseball. During his 24-year career in the major leagues, Cobb established records that still stand for lifetime batting average (.367), runs scored (2,245), and number of batting titles won (12).  Only in the mid-1980s did Pete Rose break Cobb's record for hits (4,191). 

Joe DiMaggio (1914-  ), a former center fielder for the New York Yankees, is remembered by fans as one of the most graceful athletes ever to play baseball.  DiMaggio won the American League's batting championship twice and was voted its Most Valuable Player in 1939, 1941, and 1947.  (The Bettmann Archive) 
The American baseball player Rogers Hornsby (1896-1963), a second baseman whose .358 lifetime batting average remains a National League record, led the league in batting seven times and set the modern single-season record in 1924 with a .424 average. During much of his career, Hornsby was a player-coach with the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that he managed to a world championship in 1926. 

Relying on his blazing fastball and baffling curve, Sandy Koufax (1935- ) led the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory over the Minnesota Twins in the 1965 World Series.  Many baseball authorities believe that Koufax might have established himself as the greatest pitcher ever, but he was forced to retire because of a painful and chronic arthritic condition afflicting his pitching arm. 

Mickey Mantle (1931-1995 ), a switch-hitting outfielder who played for the New York Yankees, won the American League's Most Valuable Player award 3 times (1956, 1957, 1962) and hit 536 home runs during his career.  Mantle played for 18 seasons in the major leagues, hampered much of that time by painful leg injuries, and was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1974. 

Willie Mays (1931-  ), the first player in professional baseball's National League to hit 600 home runs during a career, made his debut with the New York Giants in 1951, winning Rookie of the Year honors and leading his team to a pennant.  Mays starred with the Giants franchise as a center fielder for 21 seasons.  He retired in 1973 after compiling career totals of 660 home runs and 3,283 hits. 

Stan Musial (1920-  ), a durable outfielder and first baseman who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, established what were then National League lifetime records for most games played (3,026), most times at bat (10,972), most hits (3,630), and most runs batted in (1,951).  Following a playing career during which he won Most Valuable Player honors three times (1943, 1946, 1948), Musial was appointed (1964) head of the President's Council on Physical Fitness. 

Jackie Robinson (1919-72), an American baseball player, became the first black athlete to play in the major leagues when he debuted (1947) with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  During his first year Robinson helped his team win the National League pennant and was voted Rookie of the Year.  Robinson played for 10 seasons (1947-56) with the Dodgers, winning the Most Valuable Player award in 1949 and leading the team to its only world championship (1955) during the span of Robinson's career. 

Babe Ruth (1895-1948) remains perhaps the most famous baseball player in history despite the fact that most of his batting records have been eclipsed.  Before joining the New York Yankees, Ruth had been an outstanding pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.The Yankees converted him into an outfielder, and Ruth led the team to four world championships (1923, 1927-28, 1932). 

Ted Williams (1918-  ), an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox, is generally recognized as one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball.  The last player to bat for a seasonal average of more than .400--.406 in 1941--Williams also hit with power, leading the league in home runs four times and winning the Triple Crown twice. 

Lou Gehrig (1903-41) played with the New York Yankees in 7 World Series, of which the team won 6.  Among his impressive statistics, his 23 lifetime grand slam home runs is still the Major League record.  Gehrig finally left the Yankee lineup after being stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which eventually caused his death. 

Reggie Jackson (1946-  ), named the Most Valuable Player of the 1977 World Series, capped a brilliant hitting performance with three home runs in the New York Yankees' final-game victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1986, Jackson surpassed Mickey Mantle's career total of 536 home runs, placing him sixth on the all-time list. 

Baseball player Roger Maris (1934-85) broke Babe Ruth's single-season home-run record in 1961 with a total of 61.  Maris joined the New York Yankees in 1960 and teamed with Mickey Mantle to form a high-powered hitting duo. 

Pete Rose (1941-  ), holder of many Major League Baseball records, is most famous for his 4,256 lifetime hits, which surpassed Ty Cobb's 4,191--a mark once thought unapproachable. 

Right-handed pitcher Nolan Ryan (1947-  ) is known primarily for his blazing fastball and his ability to strike out batters.  During his long career, Ryan has played for 4 teams--the New York Mets (1966-71), the California Angels (1972-78), the Houston Astros (1979-88), and the Texas Rangers (1989-  ). 

Mike Schmidt (1949-  ), considered by many the best third baseman ever, played his entire career (1972-89) with the National League's Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt has won 3 Most Valuable Player awards (1980-81, 1986)--no one has ever won more. 

Tom Seaver (1944-  ), long one of the National League's premier pitchers (New York Mets, 1967-77;  Cincinnati Reds, 1977-82;  Mets, 1983; Chicago White Sox, 1984-86;  Boston Red Sox 1986), twice led the Mets to the World Series (1969, 1973).  In July of 1988 his number (41) was retired by the Mets. 

A star catcher for baseball's New York Yankees, Yogi Berra (1925- ) is notorious for his humorous insights and turns of phrase. 

Steve Carlton (1944- ), whose 23 victories for the Philadelphia Phillies made him the major leagues' only 20-game winner in 1982, was voted the National League's 

Cy Young Award as pitcher of the year for a record fourth time. 
Cy Young (1867-1955), who played baseball for 22 years (1890-1911) in the major leagues, won and lost the most games--511 and 313, respectively--of any pitcher in the history of the professional sport.  Those victories included three no-hitters, one of them a perfect game.  In recognition of Young's athletic excellence, the award annually presented to each league's best pitcher is named in his honor.