Baseball (Olympic sport since 1992)

   About

   Baseball's stature in the history of the United States is perhaps reflected more clearly in a simple dictionary rather than in the seven-centimetre-thick baseball encyclopaedia.

   There, you can find the word Ruthian, meaning "of mammoth proportions", as in a home run by Babe Ruth back in the 1920s. There, you can find Lou Gehrig's disease, as the incurable degenerative illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has been better known since Lou Gehrig, Ruth's team-mate, died from it in the 1940s. In the United States, baseball and the English language are interwoven.

   However, just as the game did not begin as a wholly US enterprise, it did not end the 20th century as one either. Baseball's all-time home-run champion is a man named Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 during a legendary career in baseball-mad Japan. The national team of Cuba overpowered the Baltimore Orioles of the US major leagues 12-6 in a 1999 exhibition game.

   American baseball became a full medal sport in Barcelona in 1992.

   Competition

   Teams qualify through regional series that produce two teams each from the Americas, Europe and Asia and another from a playoff between the top teams from Oceania and Africa.

   At the Games, each team plays the other seven once, and the top four teams advance to the semi-finals. The first-placed team then plays the fourth-placed team, and the second plays the third. The winners of those semi-finals meet to decide the gold and silver medals, with the two losing teams playing for the bronze.

   Baseball is played between two teams taking turns batting and fielding. The object is to score the most runs in nine innings. Each team's turn at bat ends when three of its batters have been ruled out. If the score is tied after nine innings, the teams play another inning at a time until one team leads.

   List of events

   -- baseball Men

History

   Discipline's origin

   Baseball is a sport which was primarily developed in the United States in the early 19th century. Legend has it that the sport was invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York, but that legend has been largely discredited, and Doubleday should instead be recognised for being an American Civil War hero. The sport is based on several earlier British sports, such as rounders and cricket, which were popular in the 17th and 18th century. After its early development in the United States, professional teams and leagues were later formed, especially the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in 1871, the first formal professionalorganisation. Five years later, in 1876, this organisation was replaced by the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs.

   Baseball later spread to many nations, notably Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and also to many Latin American countries, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Cuba's first professional league was formed in 1878, only two years after the National League in the United States. Many Latin Americans have played in the American Major Leagues.

   Olympic history

   American baseball was contested in the Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1912, 1936, 1956, 1964, 1984 and 1988. Finnish baseball (pesäpallo) was a demonstration sport during the 1952 Helsinki Games. American baseball became a full medal sport in Barcelona in 1992, while the similar sport of softball was added to the Olympic programme in 1996. The United States no longer dominates this sport in international play, as the Cubans and several Central American countries produce excellent teams.

Equipment

   Ball

   The ball is made from layers of string and rubber surrounding a cork centre. Softball is played with a bigger ball.

   Bat

   Used to hit the ball

   Baseball cap

   Identifies the athletes' team. Also protects the eyes from blinding sun rays and spotlights.

   Batter's glove

   Used by the batter.

   Diamond

   Baseball is played on a field of grass and dirt, or artificial turf, called a diamond because the infield, the area enclosed by home plate and the three bases, forms a diamond.

   Glove

   A leather glove is used to catch the ball.

   Hemlet (batter)

   Used for protection.

   Helmet (catcher)

   A full-faced helmet is used for protection.

   Shin guards, knee pads

   Used for protection.

Glossary

   Balk: An illegal, often deceptive move by the pitcher, penalised by a ball being called, or letting baserunners advance one base.

   Ball: A pitch outside the strike zone that the batter does not try to hit.

   Base: One of the three safe stations for the batter or baserunner.

   Baseline: The direct line between each base, along which the baserunner must generally run.

   Baserunner: A batter who has reached base safely.

   Bases loaded: Bases are said to be loaded when there is a baserunner on each base.

   Batter: The player trying to hit the pitch.

   Batter's box: A rectangular area beside home plate where a batter stands to hit the pitch.

   Bullpen: The area where relief pitchers wait, or prepare, to enter the game.

   Bunt: An attempt by the batter to tap the ball instead of swinging at it.

   Catcher: The fielder positioned behind home plate who catches the pitches.

   Centerfielder: The fielder positioned in centre field (near the middle of the outfield).

   Changeup: A pitch thrown deceptively slowly to surprise the batter.

   Curveball: A pitch thrown with a rotation that makes the ball curve.

   Designated hitter: A player who bats in place of a designated team-mate (usually the pitcher) in the batting line-up.

   Double: A hit that allows a batter to reach second base.

   Double play: A play in which two outs are made with one pitch.

   Dugout: The semi-enclosed area beside the playing field where players sit when they are not actively involved in the game.

   Error: A mistake by a fielder that lets a batter or baserunner advance to a base.

   Fair ball: A ball hit into the field of play.

   Fastball: A pitcher's fastest pitch.

   First baseman: The fielder stationed near first base.

   Flyball: A ball hit in the air to the outfield.

   Forceout: An out made when a baserunner, forced to run because another team-mate must run to the base he is occupying, cannot make the next base safely.

   Foul ball: A ball hit outside the foul lines.

   Foul lines: The two straight lines, extending from home plate past the outside edges of first and third bases to the outfield fence, which define fair territory.

   Foul tip: A ball that barely touches the bat before continuing to the catcher.

   Grand slam: A home run with a baserunner on each base, scoring four runs.

   Groundball: A ball hit along the ground.

   Hit: A ball struck by a batter that enables him to reach base safely.

   Home plate: The five-sided slab of whitened rubber, 17 inches wide, which the batter stands beside to hit the pitch.

   Home run: A hit by a batter, which usually goes over the outfield fence, that enables him to run around all the bases safely.

   Infield: The diamond-shaped area formed by the three bases and home plate.

   Infielder: A fielder in any of the four infield positions, not including the pitcher and catcher.

   Inning: A turn at batting and fielding for each team.

   Leftfielder: The outfielder stationed in left field (the left-hand side of the outfield from the batter's perspective).

   Line drive: A ball hit sharply in a straight line roughly parallel to the ground.

   Live ball: A ball in play.

   Mound: The packed hill of dirt in the middle of the infield from which the pitcher throws the ball.

   On deck: Due to bat next.

   Outfield: The playing area inside the foul lines and beyond the infield.

   Outfielder: A fielder in any of the three outfield positions.

   Passed ball: A catcher's failed attempt to catch a good pitch, allowing a baserunner to advance to the next base.

   Pickoff: A play between pitches in which a fielder tags a baserunner out with the ball while he is standing off, or leading off, base.

   Pinch hitter: A player who bats in place of a team-mate one time in a game.

   Pinch runner: A player who replaces a baserunner on his team one time in a game.

   Pitcher: The player who throws the ball to the batter.

   Popup: A ball hit in the air to the infield.

   Relief pitcher: A pitcher substituted into the game.

   Rightfielder: The outfielder stationed in right field (the right side of the outfield from the batter's perspective).

   Rubber: The rubber slat on the mound, against which the pitcher must plant his back foot when pitching.

   Run: The point scored when a batter or baserunner advances to home plate.

   Run batted in: The credit a batter receives for a turn at bat that enables a team-mate to score a run.

   Sacrifice: A bunt that allows a baserunner to move to the next base while the batter gets out.

   Sacrifice fly: A flyball hit far enough to enable a baserunner on third base to score a run after the ball is caught.

   Scoring position: A good position for scoring a run on most hits, referring specifically to a baserunner standing on second or third base.

   Second baseman: The fielder stationed near second base.

   Shortstop: The fielder normally positioned between the second and third basemen.

   Single: A hit that allows a batter to reach first base.

   Sinker: A pitch thrown with a grip that makes it drop lower as it reaches home plate.

   Slide: A baserunning manoeuvre in which the player slides into a base so he does not have to slow down to avoid overrunning it, or to make it difficult for the fielder to tag him with the ball.

   Slider: A pitch essentially mixing a fastball and a curveball, thrown almost as hard as a fastball with a rotation that makes the ball curve more slightly than a curveball.

   Squeeze play: A play in which the batter bunts to try to let the baserunner on third base score a run.

   Starting pitcher: The pitcher for each team at the start of the game.

   Steal: A baserunner's successful advance from one base to the next on his own, usually during a pitch that is not hit.

   Strike: 1. A pitch judged by the umpire to have passed over home plate between the batter's armpits and the top of his knees. 2. A pitch that the batter fails to hit when he swings. 3. A foul ball when the batter has fewer than two strikes against him.

   Strike zone: The area over home plate between the batter's armpits and the top of his knees, where a pitch is called a strike even if he does not swing the bat.

   Strikeout: An out where the batter gets three strikes.

   Suicide squeeze play: A play in which the batter bunts to try to let the baserunner on third base score a run. The difference between this and a normal squeeze play is that baserunner starts running towards home plate as soon the pitch is thrown.

   Third baseman: The fielder stationed near third base.

   Triple: A hit that allows a batter to reach third base.

   Triple play: A play in which three outs are made with one pitch.

   Walk: An automatic advance to first base for the batter after the pitcher throws four balls.

   Wild pitch: A pitch thrown so wildly that the baserunner advances to the next base.