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 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 (batting 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 (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners advancing around the bases.[2] A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter).

Highest governing body

World Baseball Softball Confederation

First played

18th-century England (predecessors)

19th-century United States (modern version)

Characteristics

Contact

Tagging-only

Team members

9 baseballers:

pitcher

catcher

first baseman

second baseman

third baseman

shortstop

left fielder

center fielder

right fielder

Mixed-sex

Yes, separate competitions

Type

Team sport, bat-and-ball

Equipment

Baseball

Baseball bat

Baseball glove

Batting helmet

Catcher's gear

Venue

Baseball park

Baseball field

Glossary

Glossary of baseball terms

Presence

Country or region

Worldwide (most prominent in the Americas and East Asia)

Olympic

Demonstration sport: 1912, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1984 and 1988

Medal sport: 1992–2008, 2020

World Games

1981[1]