Baseball Rules and Regulations

Baseball is commonly referred to in the media as "America's Pastime," and it has been played in the United States since the 1800s. The game involves hitting a pitched ball and trying to score more runs than the other team. It sounds very simple, but fans of the sport of baseball know that there are a lot of intricacies with the rules that make the game of baseball both a strategic and an athletic game as well.

The bases in Major League Baseball (MLB) are 90 feet apart. For youth leagues this is a little too large, so the field is scaled down. The distance between bases in Little League is 60 feet. For pitchers in the MLB leagues, the distance is 60 feet and 6 inches from the pitcher's rubber to home plate. In Little League, this distance is shortened to 46 feet.

Officially, the first and third base coaches must remain in a coach's box that is painted on the field along the first and third base sides of the field. The coach must keep one foot inside the box or at least keep both feet very close to the lines of the box. There are occassions when a coach can leave the box though, such as when a player is coming towards the base and a play is being made to try to get him out. If the coach interferes with either the runner or fielder though, it is considered interference and the runner is out.

In Major League Baseball, each team plays a schedule of 162 games. This is considered to be the regular season, and after the regular season there are playoffs. The round of playoffs are played until one team wins three games against the other team. In the last two rounds of the playoffs, with the last round being the World Series, a team must win four games to be the winner of the round.

Each team in baseball is expected to place nine players in the field. These include a pitcher and a catcher, along with four other infielders. There are also three outfielders on the field. The pitcher is not required to bat in baseball, and can be replaced in the batting order by a designated hitter.

The designated hitter position is not observed by both the American League and the National League in Major League Baseball. In National League games the pitcher must bat. If a game is played between an American League and National League team against each other, the use of the designated hitter is determined by which team is the home team. In National League stadiums the American League pitcher must bat along with the National League team's pitcher. In American League baseball stadiums, the National League team is permitted to use the designated hitter for the pitcher just like the American League team.