the.com/baseball
the only sport where the defense holds the ball and time refuses to exist.
means A bat-and-ball game between two teams of nine, where players score by hitting a pitched ball and running counterclockwise around four bases back to home plate.
from A plain compound of 'base' and 'ball' — the 'base' from Latin 'basis,' a foundation or stepping point, by way of French. The name predates the modern American game: 'base-ball' appears in 18th-century England referring to a children's game (Jane Austen even mentions it), and it likely grew out of older folk games like rounders. The popular legend that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown in 1839 is a charming myth, debunked by historians — the game evolved gradually rather than springing from one inventor.
- no clock
- games can theoretically last forever, by design
- foul territory
- the only major sport with playable out-of-bounds
- mud guy
- MLB rubs every ball in one secret New Jersey mud
- failure rate
- hitting .300 means failing seven of ten tries
- oldest park
- Fenway's Green Monster has stood since 1912
world series — annual championship between american league and national league winners, first played in 1903
yankees red sox rivalry — oldest rivalry in north american sports, dating to 1901 with 39 postseason matchups
negro leagues — professional leagues for african american players from 1920-1950, including the kansas city monarchs and homestead grays