Baseball Characteristics And Extreme Benefits For Sport Lovers

Baseball (eng. baseball , from base - base, and ball - ball) - a team sports game with a ball and a bat. The competition involves two teams of nine (sometimes ten) players each. Baseball appeared in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century. It is believed that the basis of the game was the English game "rounders". The first official match was held in 1820 in New York. Baseball is currently played in more than 120 countries around the world. Baseball is most popular in the USA, Cuba, Japan, China and Korea. In the USA, Japan, the Czech Republic and other countries, softball is also common - a simplified version of baseball - a game that can be played indoors and on small fields. Baseball-related sports include cricket, pesapolo in Finland.

A baseball court is a sector whose rays diverge at right angles, and, as it were, divide the site into two zones: " infield " - an internal field (a square or rhombus with sides of 27.45 m) and " outfield " - an external field. At its corners of the inner field are the so-called " bases ", around which the game is built. One of the bases is called " home ". From it, counterclockwise, the rest of the bases are numbered. Inside the square is the service circle from where the ball is put into play. From the house along the sides of the inner field to the very stands, two lines diverge, limiting the outer playing field - these are " foul lines ". If the ball goes beyond them, a " foul ball " offside is declared and play is stopped. The essence of the game is reduced to single combat between two teams of nine people (substitutions are not limited, but the replaced player can no longer return to the game). Teams alternate between offensive and defensive roles . At the beginning of the game, the away team plays on offense and the home team plays on defense. The attacking team is trying to earn points, and the defending team is trying in every possible way to prevent this. The goal of the attack is to run through all the bases and return to the “home”, and the defense is to knock out of the game (in baseball terminology, send out) 3 attacking players. As soon as the home team managed to send 3 opponents out, the teams change places. Now the hosts are attacking, the guests are defending.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PLAYERS OF THE ATTACKING TEAM Batter (beater)

 a player who is near the "house" with a bat. He must skillfully spend his time in this role (at bat) to reach at least first base, or allow base runners to run to the next base (no more than one offensive player can be at the same base at the same time), and the best option: both together. If he manages to hit the ball accurately, he throws the bat and tries to run around as many bases as possible. If this succeeds (the defense will not send him out), another player from the attacking team is armed with a bat, becoming the new batter. The batter can stop at any of the bases. Once he's been out or has reached the base, another batter steps in and the game starts all over again. When the batter manages to break the ball over the fence, then he and all his partners who are on the bases can freely run to the "house". Such a hit is called a "home run" and thus brings the team from 1 to 4 points (depending on the number of people on the bases during the "home run"). A good batter anticipates the trajectory of the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand, and predicts the flight, assesses the position of the players in the inside field in a matter of fractions of a second, during which the ball reaches him. Runner - A former batter who either hit a pitched ball or went to 1st base on a base-on-ball, hit-by-pitch, or catcher interference. His task is to run through all the bases (1 - 2 - 3 - house), touching each of them in turn, and bring a point (by touching the house). The task of each player from the attacking team is to hit the ball served by the pitcher in turn (being in the role of a batter) and, thanks to the successful action of the partners or the mistakes of the opponents, move from base to base. If you manage to visit all the bases and return to the "home", then the attacking team gets a point.

LOCATION AND DUTIES OF THE PLAYERS OF THE DEFENSE TEAM Pitcher - the main player of the team stands in the center of the inner field on a small earthen embankment ("slide"). He starts the game by serving. The pitcher's task is to make life easier for his teammates, namely: to pitch the ball in such a way that the batter is either unable to hit at all (there are many tricks to beat the batter, for example, a very strong pitch, spinning the ball, etc.), or to hit it turned out to be unsuccessful (easy for the defenders to receive). However, the ball must fly over the "home" and not above the armpit and not below the batter's knee, through the so-called "strike zone"), which is closely watched by the arbiter.