Baseball is often called America’s national pastime.

It is called that because fans all over the world love to play and watch this amazing sport.  A lot of people think baseball is the best sport in America and maybe the entire world. Baseball began in the United States a long time ago in fact it began more than 200 years ago.  This game became very popular and a lot of people have been playing it ever since.  Baseball can be played by men, boys, even women, and girls.  You don’t even need to spend a lot of money on equipment.  All you need is a ball, a bat, a glove, and something to mark the 4 bases.  A lot of people play on baseball teams in fact 12 million have played across the world.  Over two million kids are on the Little League teams.  Baseball is a big sport in Japan, Cuba, Taiwan, Venezuela, and South Korea.  There are 124 countries in the International Baseball Classic tournament.  In baseball, there are two teams of nine players each.  A baseball field has 4 bases; they are called 1st, second,third, and home plate.  While players are batting they are trying to score a run.  To score a run a player has to hit the ball with the bat and run around all three bases, they also have to get to home plate.  Both teams take turns batting and the other team plays on the field.  This game does not have a time limit; it lasts for nine innings.  But usually baseball games last for 3 hours.  There are 4 different ways to get a batter or a runner out.  The first way is a strikeout.  A strikeout is when the batter tries to hit the ball and if he swings and misses the ball that is called a strike.  If you swing and miss the ball 3 times that is called a strikeout.  You can also get a foul ball when the ball is out of bounds.  A foul ball is also a strike.  There is also a strike zone if the ball is in the strike zone it is a strike but if it is not in the strike zone that is all ball 4 balls is a walk.  A walk is when you get to go to first base.  The second way to get a batter or a runner out is a fly out.  A fly out is when a fielder catches a ball batted from the batter in the air before it touches the ground.  Even if it is a foul ball a fielder can still catch it for an out.  The third way is a tag out.  A tag out is when a batter reaches first base that person becomes a runner if a runner is not touching the base and if a fielder tags the person that is out.  The fourth way is a force out.  There can only be one runner on a base at a time.  A force out is when there is a runner on first and the batter hits the ball.  The runner has to run to second that is called a force at second base.  If there is a force at second and if the fielder stops the ball he can throw it to his teammate at second to make the out.  You have to have one foot on any base to get the runner out.  There are 9 positions on a baseball team.  There are catcher, pitcher, first basemen, second basemen, shortstop, third baseman, left outfielder, center outfielder, and right outfielder.  Games with balls and bats have been around for a long time.  About 3,500 years ago, ancient Egyptians wrote about playing “hit catch” with bats, balls and bases.  In the 1600s, settlers from England brought a game with them called rounders.  They played it with a ball, a bat, and four posts that were like bases.  There are stories that George Wahington and his soldiers played rounders in Valley Forge. As years passed, rounders became baseball In 1845, a baseball team called the Knickerbockers played in New York City.  Their name was called that because of the early Dutch settlers who lived there.  Dutchmen wore pants that came down to their knees.  Those pants were called knickerbockers.  The Knickerbockers made a rule that everyone has to use.  A player could’t tag a runner out by throwing a ball at the player.  Today there are 30 major professional teams.  There are 15 teams in the American league and 15 teams in the National league, together they make up the MLB.  The best team from the American League and the best team in the National League play in a game called the World Series to determine the champion.  The New York Yankees have won 27 World Series, which is the best in the MLB.  Every year 300,000 baseball fans head to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown New York.  The Baseball Hall of Fame chose its first members in 1936, one of those members was Babe Ruth.  Today there are 340 members. They include MLB players, team managers, umpires, and owners.  Some players in the Baseball Hall of Fame are Joe DImaggio, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and a lot more.  As you can see, Baseball is an amazing sport and it has a great history.