Is a team sport, which is very popular in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and in North America. For many in the United States it is considered their national sport. The modern game was taken from Britain in early bat and ball games. Many consider the game came from Ireland and British versions of a game called rounders. By the 1860's baseball was considered to be developed and played professionally in the United States.

Structure of the game

Baseball is played between two teams of nine players each on a baseball field, under one or more officials, called umpires. There are four bases numbered first, second and third. Along with the home plate which is considered the fourth base. The field comprised of two main sections:

• The infield, containing the four bases, is for defensive and offensive purposes bounded by the foul lines and the grass line.
• The outfield is the grassed area beyond the infield grass line. It consists of all fair ground beyond the square of the infield and its bases. The area between the foul lines, including the foul lines (the foul lines are in fair territory), is fair territory, and the area outside the foul lines is foul territory.

The team on the field consists of a pitcher (1), catcher (2), first baseman (3), second baseman (4), third baseman (5), shortstop (6), left fielder (7), center fielder (8), right fielder (9). A batter from the opposing team attempts to hit the ball behind the home plate against the pitcher who pitches or throws the ball to the catcher. A batter's turn at the plate is called an at Bat. Batters advance to the bases in a variety of ways through: hits, walks, hit-by-pitch, and a few others. When pitched at the batter swings at the ball. If he or she misses, he or she is charged with a strike. If the batter does not swing, the home plate umpire judges whether or not the ball passed through the strike zone. If the ball, or any part of it, passed through the zone, it is ruled a strike; otherwise, it is called a ball. The number of balls and strikes thrown to the current batter is known as the count. When the batter gets three strikes at bat they are considered out. A team has three outs given for the inning. After this time the team switches from batting to playing the field. When the batter hits a fair ball, he must run to first base, and may continue or stop at any base unless he is put out. A successful hit occurs when the batter reaches a base: reaching only first base is a single; reaching second base, a double; third base, a triple; and a hit that allows the batter to touch all bases in order on the same play is a home run, whether or not the ball is hit over the fence. Once a runner is held to a base, he may attempt to advance at any time, but is not required to do so unless the batter or another runner displaces him. When a batter reaches the home plate then their team scores a run.

The length of the game consists of each team having one turn in the field and one turn to hit, with the visiting team batting before the home team. This is called an inning. A standard game lasts nine innings, although some leagues (such as high school baseball) use seven-inning games. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. If the home team is ahead after eight-and-a-half innings have been played, it is declared the winner, and the last half-inning is not played. If the home team is trailing or tied in the last inning and they score to take the lead, the game ends as soon as the winning run touches home plate; however, if the last batter hits a home run to win the game, he and any runners on base are all permitted to score.

Most teams consist of the following positions

• 5 Starting Pitcher
• 7 Relievers (Long Reliever, Middle Reliever, Left Handed Specialist, Set-up man, Closer)
• 2 Catchers (starter and sub)
• 1 1st baseman
• 1 2nd baseman
• 1 3rd baseman
• 1 shortstop
• 1 left fielder
• 1 right fielder
• 1 center fielder
• 4 bench payers (subs, pinch hitters, pinch runners, usually 2 extra infielders and 2 extra outfielders)