Major League BaseballNorth American professional baseball leagueMajor League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier baseball league in the world.
StrikeoutIn baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safely as a result. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is usually denoted by the letter K, or sometimes by the initialism SO.
BaseballBat-and-ball gameBaseball is a bat-and-ballsport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat.
National League (baseball)The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league.
Automated Ball-Strike SystemThe Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) is a system that automates the interpretation of whether pitches are in the strike zone in baseball games. It is currently used by the KBO League in South Korea, and by Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. In MLB and MiLB, it is used to enable player challenges of umpire calls of balls and strikes, while in the KBO League and previously in MiLB, it calls pitches automatically.
Baseball fieldA baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers to less organized venues for activities like sandlot ball.
Pitch (baseball)In baseball, a pitch is the throwing of a baseball from the pitcher to a batter at home plate. The term comes from the Knickerbocker Rules. Originally, the ball had to be thrown underhand, much like pitching in horseshoes. Overhand pitching was not allowed in baseball until 1884. The biomechanics of pitching have been studied extensively.
Rules of baseballThroughout the history of baseball, the rules of the game have changed frequently as the game continues to evolve. A few typical rules that most professional leagues have in common are that four balls are a base on balls, three strikes are a strikeout, and three outs end a half-inning. Baseball evolved out of bat-and-ball games in the mid-19th century, and its modern rules are based mainly on those first published in 1848.
Base on ballsA base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls balls, and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08(a).
Batting (baseball)In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to drive runners home or to advance runners along the bases for others to drive home, but the techniques and strategies they use to do so vary.TorsoThe torso or trunk is the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including human beings), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a human — can be divided into segments: The chest or upper torso. This section is also called the thorax or the thoracic region. This is where the forelimbs extend. The abdomen. The abdomenal section is also known as the "mid-section" or midriff.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.