Baseball for Girls
Every girl at some point in their life wants nothing more than to fit in with the boys; whether it is your boyfriend or your group of close guy friends. With baseball season starting up here are the basics of what you need to know about the game of baseball!
Let’s start off with the field. Baseball is played on a diamond. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd bases and home plate make up the corners of the diamond and the lines are what indicate what is a “safe” play area, when the ball is in play and what is “foul”. The area in the diamond is called the infield and the area beyond the diamond is the outfield.
In major league baseball, two teams of 9 players each take an even number of turns at bat over the course of 9 innings. The team in the filed has a pitcher and a catcher and the batter attempts to hit the ball and run to 1st base. If the ball is pitched within the strike zone but the batter doesn’t swing, that’s a strike. Also if he swings and misses that’s a strike. This is where the familiar term “three strikes and you’re out!” comes from. If the ball is pitched outside the strike zone and the batter doesn’t swing that’s called a “ball” and with four of those you get to walk to 1st base. If someone is on 1st base they get to move to 2nd, so on and so forth.
When you hit the ball you must make it to the base before the ball to be considered safe. No matter what happens, as long as you’re touching that base you are SAFE. If you hit the ball but the ball gets to 1st base before you, you’re out. If you hit the ball into the air and an outfielder catches it before it hits the ground you’re out as well. Three outs and it’s the other teams turn at bat.
It is possible that the batter hits the ball so hard he can run to 2nd base (that’s what is called a double), or 3rd base (a triple), or maybe even to home plate (a home run). Every time a player crosses home, a point is earned. At the end the team with the most runs wins the game but in the case of a tie, additional innings are played until someone wins.
Now you know the basics of baseball! Take the boys to a game and wow them with your knowledge. They will love it. Don’t forget the peanuts and crackerjacks!