Baseball Essay, Research Paper
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, and the National League
did the same in 1962. In 1969 another expansion by both
leagues necessitated divisional play, the winners in each
division within each league meeting in a best 3-out-of-5
(now 4-out-of-7) championship play-off to determine the
World Series contestants. Finally, the American League
added two teams for the 1977 season. The following teams
are currently active: National League East–Chicago Cubs,
Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies,
Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. National
League West–Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, 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 despite its heavy television
coverage–and its heavy schedule of night games, which
precluded the attendance of many children–baseball’s
popularity as a family spectator sport was on the rise again
in the late 1970s and the mid-1980’s. During the 1981
season–from June 12 to August 10–the baseball players
went on strike in order to maintain relatively unencumbered
free agency in the major leagues. When the 1981 season
ended, more than 30% of all major-league games had gone
unplayed, the settlement had not provided a clear victory
for either players or owners, the makeshift playoff system
designed to accommodate the “split season” was
considered less than adequate, and baseball attendance
and television ratings had dropped off, although not
precipitously. Fan interest was again strong in the
mid-1980s, however. Playing the Game Baseball is played
on an area divided into an infield of standard proportions
and
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
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