La plaquita or la placa (English: little plate) is a bat-and-ball game played in the Dominican Republic with many similarities to cricket. [1] [2]
Several Dominican MLB baseball players have attested to playing it as children. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Two teams of two players take turns fielding and batting. There are two wickets which are license plates (called placas in Spanish), with one fielder behind and one batter in front of each wicket. Batters run between the wickets to score runs, with one run scored for each swap of the batters, though they can be put out if a fielder runs them out by hitting a wicket with the ball while they are away from it. [9] One of the fielding team's players throws the ball to the batter at the opposite wicket, who may then try to hit it. The fielding team's goal is to bowl the batter out by knocking over the wicket with the ball. [10] Whichever team has more runs at the end of the game wins.
Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating the progress of a player or team.
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport 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 generally 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. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, 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.
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without the ball touching the field.
Backyard cricket, also known as Bat ball, street cricket, beach cricket, corridor cricket, garden cricket, and box cricket, is colloquially referred to as gully cricket in the Indian subcontinent. This informal variant of cricket is a universally inclusive game, welcoming all genders and ages. It is typically played in various non-traditional venues such as gardens, backyards, streets, parks, carparks, beaches, and any area not specifically designed for the sport.
A run batted in or runs batted in is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored. For example, if the batter bats a base hit which allows a teammate on a higher base to reach home and so score a run, then the batter gets credited with an RBI.
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A double is a type of hit and is sometimes called a "two-bagger" or "two-base hit". For statistical and scorekeeping purposes it is denoted by 2B.
In baseball and softball statistics, an error is an act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to advance one or more bases or allows a plate appearance to continue after the batter should have been put out. The term error is sometimes used to refer to the play during which an error was committed.
Vladimir Alvino Guerrero Sr., nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and designated hitter. He played for the Montreal Expos (1996–2003), Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2004–2009), Texas Rangers (2010), and Baltimore Orioles (2011).
In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a rare play in which a batter rounds all four bases for a home run without the baseball leaving the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer".
In baseball, the batting order or batting lineup is the sequence in which the members of the offense take their turns in batting against the pitcher. The batting order is the main component of a team's offensive strategy. In Major League Baseball, the batting order is set by the manager, who before the game begins must present the home plate umpire with two copies of his team's lineup card, a card on which a team's starting batting order is recorded. The home plate umpire keeps one copy of the lineup card of each team, and gives the second copy to the opposing manager. Once the home plate umpire gives the lineup cards to the opposing managers, the batting lineup is final and a manager can only make changes under the Official Baseball Rules governing substitutions. If a team bats out of order, it is a violation of baseball's rules and subject to penalty.
Throughout the history of baseball the rules have frequently changed as the game has continued to evolve. The rules of baseball can vary slightly from league to league, with there being dozens of leagues worldwide. A few common rules most professional leagues have in common is that 4 balls is a Base on balls, 3 strikes is a strikeout and 3 outs ends a half inning. One example of differing rules in professional leagues is in Major League Baseball a pitch clock is in place to speed up the pace of the game by forcing pitchers to pitch in a 15-20 second window, where in the Nippon Professional Baseball League no such rule exists.
Baseball and cricket are the best-known members of a family of related bat-and-ball games. Both have fields that are 400 feet (120 m) or more in diameter between their furthest endpoints, offensive players who can hit a thrown/"bowled" ball out of the field and run between safe areas to score runs (points) at the risk of being gotten out, and have a major game format lasting about 3 hours.
In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a foul ball counts as a strike against the batter, unless there are already two strikes on the batter, with special rules applying to foul tips and foul bunts. Fly balls are those hit in an arcing manner, with pop-ups being a subset of foul balls that do not travel far. Line drives are batted balls hit on a straight line trajectory, while ground balls are hit at a low trajectory, contact the ground shortly after being hit, and then either roll or bounce. Batted balls, especially line drives, can present a hazard to players, umpires, and spectators, as people have been seriously injured or killed after being struck by batted balls.
Bat-and-ball games are field games played by two opposing teams. Action starts when the defending team throws a ball at a dedicated player of the attacking team, who tries to hit it with a bat and run between various safe areas in the field to score runs (points). The defending team can use the ball in various ways against the attacking team's players to force them off the field when they are not in safe zones, and thus prevent them from further scoring. The best known modern bat-and-ball games are cricket and baseball, with common roots in the 18th-century games played in England.
This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries.
Vladimir Guerrero Ramos Jr. is a Canadian-Dominican professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player and Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr., making his major league debut in April 2019. A right-handed batter and thrower, he is widely regarded as one of MLB's best active hitters.
Víctor Enrique Robles Brito is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Robles signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2013. He made his MLB debut in 2017.
Juan José Soto Pacheco is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals.
Vitilla is a popular variation of stickball played primarily in the Dominican Republic and areas in the United States with large Dominican populations.
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport that has many recreational variants. The major sport most related to baseball is the Olympic discipline of softball, with the two sports being administered internationally alongside Baseball5 by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
  | This article about sports in the Dominican Republic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This sports-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |