Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams, of nine players each, that take turns batting and fielding. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate. The team that scores the most runs by the end of the game is the winner.
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. As of 2022, a total of 30 teams play in Major League Baseball—15 teams in the National League (NL) and 15 in the American League (AL)—with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NL and AL were formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively. Beginning in 1903, the two leagues signed the National Agreement and cooperated but remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
Today, baseball is a popular sport around the world with numerous countries practicing it at amateur and professional levels.
The history of baseball can be broken down into various aspects: by era, by locale, by organizational-type, game evolution, as well as by political and cultural influence. The game evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century. This game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 20th century, baseball was widely recognized as the national sport of the United States. Baseball is popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels. Sports betting can also extend to non-athletic events, such as reality show contests and political elections, and non-human contests such as horse racing, greyhound racing, and illegal, underground cockfighting. It is not uncommon for sports betting websites to offer wagers for entertainment events such as the Grammy Awards, the Oscars, and the Emmy Awards.
Sports are an important part of culture in the United States of America. American football is the most popular spectator sport to watch in the United States, followed by baseball, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer, which make up the "Big Five". Indoor American football, professional boxing, rugby union, Cricket, tennis, golf, auto racing, softball, lacrosse, field hockey, water polo, and mixed martial arts, among others, are also somewhat popular sports played in the country.
Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia’s most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched sport on Australian television eclipsing the AFL nationally with an aggregate audience of 128.5 million viewers. The elite club competition is the National Rugby League (NRL), which features ten teams from New South Wales, three teams from Queensland, and one team each from Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand.
In Australia, baseball is a game that is played in all states and territories of the country.
The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League is a winter professional baseball league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played in the Dominican Republic. The league's players include many prospects that go on to play Major League Baseball in the United States while also signing many current MLB veterans. The champion of LIDOM advances to play in the yearly Caribbean Series.
Baseball was popularized in Cuba by Nemesio Guillot, who founded the first major baseball club in the country. It became the most played sport in the country in the 1870s, before the period of American intervention.
Baseball is a growing, minor sport in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 3,000 participants in 2011 rising to over 22,000 (combined) softball and baseball participants by 2016.
The history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans never played cricket in great numbers, the game grew for some time. Around the time of the United States Civil War, the game began competing with baseball for participants, but then slowly declined in popularity. This was followed again by a brief golden age with the Philadelphian cricket team. This lasted until roughly the start of World War I; at this time, cricket again became less popular. In the latter part of the 20th century immigrants from cricket playing nations in south Asia and the West Indies helped spark a resurgence in the game's popularity. This led to participation and success in several International Cricket Council events. In 2007, the United States of America Cricket Association was suspended by the ICC because of problems with its administration, but was again recognized beginning in 2008.
Baseball in Canada dates back to the 19th century, and is played at various levels of competition throughout the country. There is currently one Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Toronto Blue Jays, founded in 1977. Canada's first MLB team, the Montreal Expos, formed in 1969 and relocated to Washington, D.C., in 2005.
In the United States, baseball is one of the most popular sports for both participants and spectators. The highest level of baseball in the U.S. is Major League Baseball. The World Series of Major League Baseball is the culmination of the sport's postseason each October. It is played between the winner of each of the two leagues, the American League and the National League, and the winner is determined through a best-of-seven playoff.
Sports are a central part of the culture of the Dominican Republic, and have been practiced in the whole country since the native inhabitants were living in the island. Sports play a key role in the culture and makeup of Dominican Republic society. Baseball is the most popular sport on the island country and Major League Baseball has been recruiting players from the Dominican Republic since the 1960s. Association football is the second sport of the country.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it shares some history of the original league with the Claxton Shield awarded to winners of both competitions, it is considered to be a separate competition.
Baseball is the national game of Nicaragua, and is one of the most popular sports in the country. Nicaragua has a professional baseball league, the Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League, consisting of four teams, playing in the winter, and an amateur league, El Campeonato German Pomares, playing in spring and summer. The national baseball team has been successful in the past, mainly throughout the 1970s. In many pick-up games, players have to improvise due to lack of equipment. Often, grapefruits, and rocks are used as baseballs. Nicaragua and near-by Panama are two countries who have baseball as their national sport, rather than soccer, the national sport of many Central American countries.
Baseball is played in local clubs, schools and at the university level in India.
The history of sports in the United States shows that American football, indoor American football, baseball, softball, and indoor soccer evolved out of older British sports. However, volleyball, skateboarding, snowboarding, and Ultimate are American inventions, some of which have become popular in other countries. American football and baseball diverged greatly from the European sports from which they arose, having evolved into distinctly American sports; baseball has achieved international popularity, particularly in East Asia and Latin America, while American football remains a niche. Lacrosse from Native American activities that predate Western contact.
There is a wide variety of organized sports in the continent of North America. The continent is the birthplace of several of these organized sports, such as basketball, gridiron football, ice hockey, lacrosse, racquetball, rodeo, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.
