Technical details
The baseball pitch is divided between a diamond-shaped infield containing four
bases at each corner and a larger outfield.
The pitcher's plate is 25.4cm (10 ins) above the home plate. Home base and the pitcher's plate are marked by a five-sided slab of whitened rubber while the
other three bases are marked by white canvas bags which are securely attached to the ground.
The ball is formed by yarn wound around a small core of cork, rubber or similar material and covered with two strips of white leather tightly stitched.
The bat is smooth and round, made from one piece of solid wood which is not more than 6.98cm (2.75 ins) in diameter and 106.68cm (42 ins) in length.
The object of the game is to score more runs than the oppenent in nine innings. Runs are scored by a batter advancing around the bases to home plate
without being out.
Players are out by being: struck out (the batter is beaten by three pitches); run-out (batter fails to reach a base, or base is occupied); caught.
Five facts
1) Although baseball originated in America, it has its roots in rounders and cricket.
2) The first rules for baseball are thought to have been written in 1845 by a man called Cartwright, of the New York Knickerbockers.
3) A National League started in America in 1876.
4) Baseball has been a demonstration sport eight times at the Olympic Games since 1904, in St Louis, (USA), before appearing as an Olympic sport in the 1992
Games in Barcelona, (Spain).
5) Although the sport was invented in the United States, an American team will not contest the Athens title as they failed to qualify.
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