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Baseball

Definition: Baseball

Baseball

Noun

1. A ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of 9 players; teams take turns at bat trying to score run; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empy lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!".

2. A ball used in playing baseball.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "baseball" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1803. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Baseball

DomainDefinition

19th Century Satire

A game in which the young man who bravely strikes out for himself receives no praise for it. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.

Dream Interpretation

To see baseball in your dream, denotes you will be easily contented, and your cheerfulness will make you a popular companion.
For a young woman to dream that she is playing baseball, means much pleasure for her, but no real profit or comfort. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Baseball

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Notice: A major rewrite of this page is under way at Baseball/temp. Please make your changes only on that page which will be eventually be moved to Baseball. See talk pages of both articles for explanation.

Baseball is a team sport, popular in the Americas and East Asia. In the United States, it was for many years the "national sport," though American football is now more popular among spectators. In its usual form, the game is between two teams of nine players on a playing field consisting of 4 bases, arranged in a diagonal square ("the diamond") and a large outfield. The standard layout is shown in the diagram below:

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Diagram of a baseball field. Larger Version

Play of the Game

As the game starts, the home team takes the field, while the visitors come to bat. After making three outs, the visitors take the field and the home team bats.

The basic contest is always between the pitcher, who tries to throw the ball so it cannot be cleanly hit, and the batter, who tries to hit the pitched ball with a rounded bat. If the batter hits a "fair ball" into the field of play, the hitter runs to first base and any of his teammates who are already "on the bases" may attempt to advance to another base. There are four bases, named in counterclockwise order, first base, second base, third base and home base or home plate. Baserunners must always progress in order from first base to second, third, and then home, touching each base along the way, in order to score a run. If a baserunner is already on first base, they must try to advance or the batter will be out; no two offensive players may ever stay on the same base.

If the ball is caught before it bounces, or the ball is fielded and thrown to a base before a runner arrives there, the player is out, and must return to his team's dugout. The initial decision to make first base 90 feet from home plate was an inspired one; it means that no runner, no matter how fast, can beat the throw to first of a ball cleanly fielded and properly thrown to first by a fielder in proper position. But if the fielder is out of position, or hesitates, or throws wide of the base, the play is often razor-close, and quite exciting.

There is also an imaginary area above "home plate" (where the batter stands) between the batter's knees and chest called the "strike zone". (Actually the "strike zone" varies a good bit depending on the league level of the teams and is relatively frequently re-defined by league rules makers.) Any pitch which passes through this area is a "strike", as is any pitch at which the batter swings and misses. If a batter records 3 strikes before putting the ball in play, he is out - called a strikeout. (An exception is if the third strike evades the catcher but this rarely occurs.) Any pitch which is not a strike is called a Ball. A batter who receives 4 balls from a pitcher may walk to first base and cannot be tagged out. This is called a "walk." A batter may also move to first base if he is struck by a pitched ball, unless he puts himself in the path of the pitch and makes no attempt to avoid being struck. In addition, if a player does make contact with the ball but does not hit a fair ball, this is called a foul ball. Whether a ball hit is fair or foul is defined by two lines at a right angle, drawn to the side of the diamond, and by two poles, located to the left and the right of the outfield. Also, anytime the player hits the ball backward and it leaves the play area, this is called a foul. Fouls also count as strikes, unless the player has two strikes already when hitting the foul, in which case the player must go at bat for one more turn. If a foul ball is caught by a defensive player before it bounces, then the hitter is out.

After three outs (a "half-inning") the roles of the fielding and hitting sides are reversed. Usually, nine innings are played. The aim of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team. If both teams have scored the same number of runs at the end of 9 innings (7 in high school and college), an extra inning is added to the game. If the score remains tied, another inning is added. This process repeats until the score is no longer tied at the end of an inning. Thus, the team which hits in the second (or "bottom") half of the inning always has a chance to respond to a run scored by the team batting in the first (or "top") half. As there are tactical advantages to this, the home team is always granted the right to bat in the bottom half of the inning.

In the American Major Leagues, baseball games end with tie scores only because conditions (e.g. severe weather) have made it impossible to continue play. Games in which the score is tied are not counted towards a team's game total (as technically a tie game is considered as unfinished), although statistics are retained as long as the game is of official regulation (five half innings for each team; only four for the home team if the home team is ahead). In Japan, games end after nine innings and a tie is considered honorable to both teams.

Some leagues, especially youth leagues, will end a game if one team is ahead by 10 or more runs, so as not to further humiliate the other team.

Pitching

Effective pitching is vitally important in baseball. A pitcher who starts games should be able to pitch for six or seven innings before being replaced by specialist relief pitchers, who finish the game off. For a starter to pitch all 9 innings (a "complete game"), a personal achievement is attained, although this was not always so. The average number of innings pitched has been declining slowly in the professional leagues almost since their inception, yet 9 innings was once the norm. Pitching is also physically demanding: a modern-day starting pitcher can usually throw 100-110 pitches with no ill effects, but throwing many more reduces effectiveness, and over time, may lead to serious and permanent arm injury. Typical coaches do not allow their starters to throw more pitches than this. In a major league season then, a club usually keeps a cadre of 5 starting pitchers (known as the "starting rotation") to start games, giving pitchers at least 3 or (preferably) 4 or 5 days rest between starts.

Five to seven additional pitchers are employed as relief pitchers or relievers, to pitch the innings not handled by the starting rotation. The variety of relievers is dictated by the situation. Hence, there are long relievers, setup men, specialists (pitchers used for a specific batter to maximize matchups), and closers. Today, every team typically has one pitcher designated as the closer. This relief pitcher is specifically designated to pitch the final inning (or possibly longer) of a game in which his team is leading, in order to preserve the win. To earn a save, the closer must finish the game, not be the winning pitcher, and a) pitch three or more innings or b) pitch at least one inning with a lead of 3 runs or less or c) come in to the game with the potential tying run on base, at bat, or on deck.

Types of Pitches

In order to prevent the batter from hitting the ball well, a good pitcher should be able throw a variety of different pitches, which will usually be a subset or blend of the following basic types.

The pitcher will try to make the batter miss the ball entirely ("go out on strikes") or hit it so that it can be handled by one of the fielders. This generally involves throwing the ball in a way, or to a location, that the batter is not expecting, causing him to hit it weakly or not at all. Good fielders may have some idea of where the pitcher is likely to throw the ball, and therefore where the hitter is likely to hit it (an "outside" pitch will generally be hit to the side of the field that the batter faces, for instance), and may be prepared to field the ball there if the batter hits it well. Good hitters are able to hit the ball wherever they wish, regardless of the location of the pitch.

Batting

The batter tries to hit the ball in such a way that it cannot be cleanly handled by a fielder; good hitters can place the ball where they want with surprising skill. In the early 1900's, place hitting was a high art, and the home run was considered a freakish spectacle. Place-hitting was exemplified by Willie Keeler's axiom, still shouted today: "Hit 'em where they ain't."

In 1919, Babe Ruth broke the standing home run record, and changed fundamentally the way the game was played, becoming a popular sensation in the process. The introduction of regularly changed balls, the new cork-centered balls introduced in 1910 and the banning of tampering with the balls (with spit or by scuffing the surface) made the hitters task easier. The fresh white balls were easier to see and travelled further, making the home run more likely. It has also been suggested, although there is little evidence, that owners had the baseball "juiced", since this new offensive style was very popular and was helping to redeem the game after it was rocked by the Black Sox gambling scandal. Regardless, ever since, the mighty home run has become the surest way to rouse a crowd. Accordingly, the most common batting style employed today is the free-swinging style of Ruth rather than the place-hitting style of Keeler.

Occasionally, players have been caught using illegally modified bats, ie. corked bats, an action subject to ejection and possible suspension and fines.

The Style of Play

Baseball has an antique, unhurried pace. Both football and basketball use a clock, and fans must often watch games end while one team degrades the competitive element of the game by "killing the clock" rather than competing directly against the opposing team. But baseball has no clock; you cannot win without getting the last man out, and a rally can start at any time.

(In recent decades, observers have criticized baseball for this, with some justification as the time required to play a baseball game has increased steadily through the years. One hundred years ago, games typically took an hour and a half to play; today, four-hour nine-inning games are not uncommon. However, this is primarly due to increased commercial breaks more than a decrease in playing speed. However, increased offense and more pitching changes also prolong the length of the game.)

Baseball is a team game -- even two or three Hall of Fame players cannot guarantee a pennant by themselves. In the last years of the 20th century, a trend toward building teams based on a more even distribution of talent throughout the lineup became noticeable. The Seattle Mariners and the Florida Marlins were two teams that began moving away from the previous belief in building teams around superstars. Team salary caps led to the decision by many owners to pay more solid players decent money rather than surrounding one or two expensive superstars with a below-average set of teammates. It remains to be seen if this strategy will be successful.

Paradoxically, the game places individual players under great pressure and scrutiny one at a time. The pitcher must make a good pitch or suffer reproach; no one can help him throw the ball. The hitter has a mere fraction of a second to swing the bat; no one can help him then. If the batter hits a line drive, the outfielder makes a lonely decision to try to catch it or play it on the bounce. Baseball history is full of heroes and goats -- men who in the heat of the moment distinguished themselves with a timely hit or catch, or an untimely strikeout or error.

It is a beautiful, leisurely game on the surface (some would say boring) but sudden and fierce beneath. Many people fail to recognize that baseball is a game of strategy and anticipation, as much as it is a game of skill and athleticism.

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History of baseball

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article concerns the growth of the game in the US, with particular reference to the Major Leagues. See also:

History of Baseball

Early History

The story of the origin of baseball depends on who you ask. The simplicity of the game means that many variants grew from "stick ball", a child's game revolving around hitting a ball with stick which has been long known, through rounders and a number of other early stick-ball-and-bases games, such as rounders and town ball. In addition, many of the game's early players were familiar with cricket. The first mention in print of a game called "base-ball" is in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, published in London in 1744. Another early print reference is Jane Austen's posthumous 1818 novel Northanger Abbey.

According to a Special Commission appointed in 1907 at the behest of Albert Spalding, a former pitcher, manager, administrator and sporting-goods manufacturer, to decide the issue, the first codified rules of baseball were devised by Abner Doubleday, of Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. However, later inquiries have completely debunked this theory, which was based on a single witness of dubious reliability and ignored the fact that Doubleday was at West Point in 1839. Doubtless Doubleday's Civil War fame (he was a significant actor at both the Battle of Fort Sumter and the Battle of Gettysburg), and Spalding's desire to ascribe a purely American origin to baseball, had something to day with the commission's report.

What is undeniable, however, is that right around this time, the first organized baseball clubs began to be formed in the eastern United States. The first to play baseball under modern rules were the Knickerbockers of New York City. The club was founded on September 23, 1845, as a social club for the upper middle classes, and was strictly amateur until its disbandment. The club members, led by Alexander J. Cartwright, formulated the "Knickerbocker Rules", which in large part deal with organizational matters but which also lay out rules for playing the game. One of the significant rules was the prohibition of "soaking" or "plugging" the runner; under older rules, a fielder could put a runner out by hitting the runner with the thrown ball. The Knickerbocker Rules required fielders to tag or force the runner, as is done today, and avoided a lot of the arguments and fistfights that resulted from the earlier practice.

Writing the rules didn't help the Knickerbockers in the first competitive game between two clubs under the new rules, played at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1846. The self-styled "New York Nine" humbled the Knickerbockers by a score of 23 to 1. Nevertheless, the Knickerbocker Rules were rapidly adopted by teams in the New York area and their version of baseball became known as the "New York Game" (as opposed to the "Massachusetts Game", played by clubs in the Boston area).

Professionalism and the rise of the Major Leagues

The popularity of the game spread across the northeast US in the following years. Both the New York and Massachusetts games had staunch adherents at first, but the New York game became more popular after the formation of the National Association in 1857. A rival organization for the Massachusetts game appeared also, but its popularity faded and the New York game survived to evolve into the game we know today.

Furthermore, the American Civil War saw the game played in the camps of both armies, and helped the game's progress further afield. By 1865 91 clubs were represented in the National Association of Base Ball Players, from as far west as Kansas. At this time all the clubs were amateur, but in 1869 the Cincinnati Red Stockings declared that they would henceforth be a professional side, and within 10 years professionalism was thoroughly established.

In 1870, a schism formed between professional and amateur ballplayers. The National Association split into two groups. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players operated from 1871 through 1875, and is considered by some to have been the first major league. (Other researchers dispute this.) Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years.

The professional National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, which is still extant, was established in 1875 after the National Association proved ineffective. The emphasis was now on "clubs" rather than "players". Clubs now had the ability to enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs in turn were required to play their full schedule of games, rather than forfeiting games scheduled once out of the running for the league championship, as happened frequently under the National Association. A concerted effort was made to reduce the amount of gambling on games which was leaving the validity of results in doubt.

At the same time, a "Gentleman's agreement" was struck between the clubs which had the effect as to bar non-white players from professional baseball, a bar which was still in existence until 1947. It is a common misconception that Jackie Robinson was the first African-American major-league ballplayer; he was actually one of an unknown number. Fleet Walker and his brother Welday Walker were unceremoniously dropped from major and minor-league rosters in the 1880s, as were other African-Americans in baseball. An unknown number of African-Americans played in the major leagues as Indians, or South or Central Americans. And a still larger number played in the minor leagues and on amateur teams as well. In the majors, however, it was not until Robinson (in the National League) and Larry Doby (in the American League) emergence that baseball would begin to correct this.

The early years of the National League were nonetheless tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and a rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Competitive leagues formed regularly, and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1881-1891), sometimes called the "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the National League and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series -- the first attempt at a World Series.

The Union Association survived for only one season (1884), as did the Players League (1890), a fascinating attempt to return to the National Association structure of a league controlled by the players themselves. Both leagues, however, are considered major leagues by baseball researchers due to the high caliber of play (for a brief time anyway) and the number of star players featured.

One competitive league, the American League, did survive. Founded in the fall of 1893 as the minor Western League, this league began play in April 1894. The teams were Detroit (the only league team that has not moved since), Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Sioux City and Toledo. Prior to the 1900 season, the league changed its name to the "American League", moved several franchises to larger, strategic locations, and in 1901 declared its intent to operate as a major league.

The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal hassles. One of the most famous involved star second baseman Napoleon Lajoie, who went across town in Philadelphia from the National League Phillies to the American League Athletics in 1901. Barred by a court injunction from playing baseball in the state of Pennsylvania the next year, Lajoie saw his contract traded to the Cleveland team; he would play for and manage Cleveland for many years.

After 1902 both leagues and most of the minor leagues signed a new National Agreement which led, in 1903, to the playing of a "World Series" between the two major league champions, governed player contracts and set up a classification system for minor leagues that is the forerunner of the system used today. The first World Series was won by Boston of the American League.

The Dead Ball Era and the Black Sox

Why the Ball was Dead: At this time the games tended to be low scoring, dominated by such legendary pitchers as Walter "The Big Train" Johnson, Cy Young and Christy Mathewson, to the extent that the period 1900-1919 is commonly called the Dead Ball Era. The term also accurately describes the condition of the baseball itself. Baseballs cost three dollars apiece, a hefty sum at the time, and club owners were reluctant to spend much money on new baseballs if not necessary. It was not unusual for a single baseball to last an entire game. By the end of the game, the ball would be dark with grass, mud and tobacco juice, and would be misshapen and lumpy from contact with the bat. Balls were only replaced if they were hit into the crowd and lost, and many clubs employed security guards expressly for the purpose of retrieving balls hit into the stands -- a practice unthinkable today.

As a consequence, home runs were rare, and the "inside game" dominated -- singles, bunts, stolen bases, the hit-and-run play, and other tactics dominated the strategies of the time.

Despite this, there were also several superstar hitters, the most famous being Honus Wagner, held to be one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game, and Detroit's Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach. Cobb was a mean-spirited man, fiercely competitive and loathed by many of his fellow professionals but his career batting average of .366 is unlikely to ever be bettered.

The Merkle Incident: The 1908 pennant races, in both the AL and NL, were among the most exciting ever witnessed. The National League involved a bizarre chain of events. On September 23, 1908, the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs played a game in the Polo Grounds. Rookie first baseman Fred Merkle, later to become one of the best players at his position in the league, was on first base, with another runner, Moose McCormick, on third, with two out and the game tied. Giant shortstop Al Bridwell socked a single, scoring McCormick and apparently winning the game. However, Merkle, running toward second, instead ran toward the clubhouse to avoid the spectators mobbing the field. Cub second baseman, Johnny Evers, noticed this. In the confusion that followed, Evers claimed to have retrieved the ball and touched second base, throwing Merkle out and nullifying the run scored. The league ordered the game replayed at the end of the season, if necessary. It turned out that the Cubs and Giants ended the season tied for first place, so the game was indeed replayed, and the Cubs won the game, the pennant, and subsequently the World Series (the last Cub Series victory to date, as it turns out).

For his part, Merkle was doomed to endless criticism and vilification throughout his career for this lapse, which makes his later playing success even more remarkable.

New Places to Play: The first 20 years of the 20th century saw an unprecedented rise in the popularity of baseball. Large stadiums dedicated to the game were built for many of the larger clubs or existing grounds enlarged, including Shibe Park, home of the Philadelphia Athletics, Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds in Brooklyn and New York, Boston's Fenway Park along with Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park in Chicago.

The Black Sox: Contrary what many of baseball's administrators believed, however, gambling was still rife in the game and the league's complacency during this Golden Age of baseball was shockingly exposed in 1919, in what rapidly became known as the Black Sox scandal. During the season the Chicago White Sox had shown themselves to be the best team in (probably) both leagues, and were the bookmaker's favourites to defeat the Cincinnati club in World Series. The White Sox were defeated and throughout the Series rumours were common that the players, motivated by a mixture of greed and a dislike of club owner Charles Comiskey, had taken money to throw the games. During the following seasons the rumours intensified, and spread to other clubs, until a Grand Jury was convened to investigate. During the investigation two players, Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson confessed and eight players were tried, and acquitted, for their role in the fix. Much of the evidence (depositions and other testimony) disappeared mysteriously. The Leagues were not so forgiving. Under the commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, all eight players were banned from organised baseball for life.

The Negro Leagues

Although there had been African-American baseball teams since the 1860s, it was not until 1920 that the bar on black players in the major leagues finally resulted in the formation of stable "Negro Leagues". In that year, Rube Foster, a former ballplayer with a gift for organization, founded the Negro National League. The Negro Leagues produced many player of high quality, notably pitcher Satchel Paige, and catcher Josh Gibson, considered by some observers to be the most skilled hitter of all time. There were two eras of the Negro leagues; after Foster's death the organizational structure changed considerably. Exhibition games between all-stars of the Negro and Major leagues were a fairly common occurrence. After Robinson and Doby entered the Majors, what was left of the Negro League died a lingering death. Fans and players both shifted to the Majors.

The Bambino and the End of the Dead Ball Era

It was not the Black Sox scandal which put an end to the dead ball era, but by a rule change and a player.

Some of the increased offensive output can be explained by the 1920 rule change outlawing tampering with the ball, which pitchers had often done to produce "spitballs", "shine balls" and other trick pitches which had unnatural flight through the air. Umpires were also required to put new balls into play whenever the current ball became scuffed or discolored. This rule change was enforced all the more stringently following the death of Ray Chapman, who was struck in the temple by a pitched ball from Carl Mays in a game on August 16, 1920 (he died the next day). Discolored balls, harder for batters to see and therefore harder for batters to dodge, have been rigorously controlled ever since. A side effect, of course, is that if the batter can see the ball more easily, the batter can hit the ball more easily.

Still, in the past, rule changes favoring the batter had led to increases in batting average, but not to changes in hitting styles. The "inside game" might have continued to dominate but for the activities of one remarkable player. At the end of the 1919 season Harry Frazee, then owner of the Boston Red Sox, sold a group of his star players to the New York Yankees. (The story that he did so in order to fund his theatrical shows on Broadway is, apparently, unfounded.) Amongst them was George Herman Ruth, known affectionately as "Babe".

Ruth's career mirrors the shift in dominance from pitching to hitting at this time. He started his career as a pitcher in 1914, and by 1916 was considered one of the dominant left-handed pitchers in the game. When Edward Barrow, managing the Red Sox, converted him to an outfielder, ballplayers and sportswriters were shocked. It was apparent, however, that Ruth's bat in the lineup every day was far more valuable than Ruth's arm on the mound every fourth day. Ruth swatted an unprecedented 29 home runs in his last season in Boston. The next year, as a Yankee, he would hit 54 and in 1921 he hit 59. His 1927 mark of 60 home runs would last until 1961.

Ruth's power hitting ability demonstrated a new way to play the game, and one that was extremely popular with the crowds. By the late 1920s and 1930s all the good teams had their home-run hitting "sluggers": the Yankees' Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx in Philadelphia, Hank Greenberg in Detroit and Chicago's Hack Wilson were the most storied. Whilst the American League championship, and to a lesser extent the World Series, would be dominated by the Yankees, there were many other excellent teams in the inter-war years. The legendary Connie Mack assembled a Philadelphia Athletics side that won the 1929 and 1930 championships, and the National League's Saint Louis Cardinals would win three titles themselves in nine years, the last with a group of players known as the "Gashouse Gang".

1933 also saw the introduction of the All-Star game, a mid-season break in which the greatest players in each league play against one another in a hard fought, but essentially meaningless demonstration game. In 1936 the Baseball Hall of Fame was instituted and five players elected: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.

The War Years

The beginning of US involvement in World War II robbed the game of many players who joined the armed forces, but the major leagues continued play throughout. In 1941, a year which saw the premature death of Lou Gehrig, Boston's great left fielder, Ted Williams, had a batting average over .400, the last time anyone has achieved that feat. During the same season Joe DiMaggio hit successfully in an unparalleled 56 consecutive games. Both Williams and DiMaggio would miss playing time in the services, Williams also flying in the Korean War. During this period Stan Musial led the St. Louis Cardinals to the 1942, 1944 and 1946 World Series titles.

Blacks return to the Major Leagues

In 1947 Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Jackie Robinson and broke the colour bar that had been formally in place for 50 years. Robinson was an exceptional talent, although perhaps not the greatest in the Negro leagues at the time, and he also had the inner strength to withstand the racism and abuse, from both fans and players, that he had to undergo. He stood up to the pressure magnificently, and played well enough to win the first "Rookie of the Year" award. Later that same year, four more black players made it to the majors. The following year, the 1948 major league champion Cleveland Indians featured Hall-of-Famers Larry Doby and Satchel Paige (who was still effective at 42, and still playing at 59, though there is still dispute about his true age -- no one imagines him to have been even younger than he claimed). In 1997, Major League baseball retired Robinson's number, 42.

In 1951 Willie Mays joined the New York Giants. Mays, the "Say Hey Kid", was fantastically talented, an athletic center-fielder with a splendid throwing arm who could hit for power and average, and steal bases. 50 years after the start of his career, he is widely considered amongst the greatest to have ever played the game. In his rookie season he helped the Giants to win the pennant, a feat only accomplished by Bobby Thompson's homer against the Dodgers on the last day of the season, whose fame as "The Shot Heard Round The World" is due in no small part to Russ Hodges' commentary:

"Brooklyn leads 4-2 ... Branca throws, there's a long fly, its gonna be, I believe ... THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hit that ball into the lower deck of the left field stands! The Giants win the pennant, and they're going crazy ... they're going crazy! I don't believe it! I will not believe it"

Baseball Expands and Moves West

Up to this time, major league baseball franchises had been largely confined to the eastern United States. The first team to relocate in fifty years was the Boston Braves who moved to Milwaukee in 1953. In Milwaukee the club set attendance records, and more teams moved: the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore, and the Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City.

Most shocking, though, in 1958, were the moves of two of the New York teams, the arch-rival Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, who made the jump all the way to the West Coast, in Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively. They were joined in California by one of the first expansion teams in over 70 years, the Los Angeles Angels, in 1961 (soon the California Angels and now the Anaheim Angels) and the Athletics, who moved again, settling in Oakland in 1968.

The other 1961 expansion team was the Washington Senators, who took over the nation's capital when the previous Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. 1961 is also noted as being the year in which Roger Maris beat Babe Ruth's single season record home run record, hitting 61 for the New York Yankees, albeit in a slightly longer season than Ruth's. Expansion continued in 1962 with the addition of the Houston Astros and New York Mets to the National League.

The most recent team move was in 1972, when the second Washington Senators moved to Dallas and became the Texas Rangers.

Pitching Dominance and Rules Changes

By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968, Carl Yastrzemski won the American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in modern history. That same year, Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12.

In response to these events, in 1969 major league baseball implemented certain rules changes to benefit the batters. The pitcher's mound was lowered, and the strike zone was reduced.

In 1973, the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, made a move to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter rule.

Players Assert Themselves

From the time of the formation of the Major Leagues to the 1960s, when it came to the control of the game of baseball the team owners held the whip hand. After the so called "Brotherhood Strike" of 1890 and the failure of the National Brotherhood of Ball Players and its Players League, the owners control of the game seemed absolute and lasted over 70 years, despite the formation of a number of short-lived players organisations over that time. In 1966, however, the players enlisted the help of Trade Union activist Marvin Miller to form the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). The same year, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, both Cy Young Award winners for the Los Angeles Dodgers, refused to re-sign their contracts, and the era of the reserve clause, which held players to one team, was coming to an end.

The first legal challenge came in 1970. Backed by the MLBPA, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood took the leagues to court, citing the 13th Amendment and antitrust legislation. In 1972 he finally lost his case in the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 5 to 3, but gained large scale public sympathy and the damage had been done. The reserve clause survived, but it had been irrevocably weakened. In 1975 Andy Messersmith of the Dodgers and Dave McNally of the Expos played without contracts, and then declared themselves free agents. Handcuffed by concessions made in the Flood case the owners had no choice but to accept the collective bargaining package offered by the MLBPA, and the reserve clause was effectively ended, to be replaced by the current system of free-agency and arbitration.

While the legal challenges were going on, the game continued. In 1969 the Miracle Mets, just 7 years after their formation, recorded their first winning season, won the National League East and finally the World Series.

On the field, the 1970s saw some of the longest standing records fall and the rise of two powerhouse dynasties. In Oakland the Swinging A's were overpowering, winning the Series in '72, '73 and '74 and five straight division titles. The strained relationships between teamates, who included Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Reggie Jackson, gave the lie to the need for "chemistry" between players. (They also almost single-handedly reintroduced the mustache to baseball.) The National League, on the other hand, belonged to the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati, where Sparky Anderson's team, which included Pete Rose as well as Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan finally toppled the A's in 1975. The decade also contained great individual achievements as well. On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth's record. He would retire with 755. There was great pitching too: between 1973 and 1975 Nolan Ryan threw 4 "no-hit" games. He would add a record breaking fifth in 1981 and two more before his retirement in 1993, by which time he had also accumulated 5,714 strikeouts, another record, in a 27-year career.

Strike One (1981)

All was not well with the game, however, and the many contractual disputes between players and owners came to a head in 1981. On June 12, the Major League Baseball Players Association called their first in-season work stoppage. Previous players' strikes (in 1972, '73 and 80) had been held in preseason, with only the '72 stoppage -- over benefits -- causing disruption to the regular season. Furthermore, in 1976 the owners had locked the players out of spring training in a dispute over free agency.

The crux of the 1981 dispute was about compensation for the loss of players to free agency. After losing a a top-rank player in such a way the owners wanted a mid-rank player in return, the so-called sixteenth player (each club was allowed to protect 15 players from this rule). Losing lower rated free agents would have correspondingly smaller compensation. The players, only recently freed from the bondage of the reserve clause, found this unacceptable, and withdrew their labor. Immediately, the US Government National Labor Relations Board ruled that the owners had not been negotiating in good faith, and installed a federal mediator to reach a solution. Seven weeks and 713 games were lost, before the owners backed down, settling for much lower ranked players as compensation. By then much of the season had been lost, and the season was continued as distinct half, with the playoffs reorganised to reflect this.

The Streak

That season, the Baltimore Orioles gave some playing time to a rookie shortshop named Cal Ripken, Jr. The next year he played 160 of the scheduled 162 games, including all of those from May 30. The next season, his resilience and enthusiasm enabled him to play every game, and he continued to do so throughout the decade, often playing through pain and injury. Finally, on September 5, 1995 he played his 2,130th consecutive game, tying Lou Gehrig's 56 year old record, which had seemed untouchable. The next day he broke the record, but continued with The Streak for another five years, voluntarily ending it at 2,632 consecutive games played, on September 20, 2000.

Throughout the 1980s then, baseball seemed to prosper. The competitive balance between franchises saw fifteen different teams make the World Series, and nine different champions during the decade. Turmoil was, however, just around the corner. In 1986 Pete Rose retired from playing for the Cincinnati Reds, having broken Ty Cobb's record by accumulating 4,256 hits during his career. He continued as Reds manager until, in 1989 it was revealed that he was being investigated for sports gambling, including the possibility that he had bet on teams with which he was involved. While Rose admitted a gambling problem, he denied having bet on baseball. Federal prosecutor John Dowd investigated and, on his recommended Rose to be banned from organised baseball, a move which precluded his possible inclusion in the Hall Of Fame. In a meeting with Commissioner Giamatti, Rose, having failed in a legal action to prevent it, accepted his punishment. It was, essentially, the same fate that had befallen the Black Sox seventy years previously.

Strike Two (1994)

Labor relations were still strained. There had been a two day strike in 1985 (over the division of television revenue money), and a 32-day spring training lockout in 1990 (again over salary structure and benefits). By far the worst action would come in 1994. The seeds were sown earlier: in 1992 the owners sought to renegotiate on salary and free-agency terms, but little progress was made. The standoff continued until the beginning of 1994 when the existing agreement expired, with no agreement on what was to replace it. Adding to the problems was the perception that "small market" teams, such as the struggling Seattle Mariners could not compete with high spending teams such as those in New York or Los Angeles. Their plan was to institute TV revenue sharing to increase equity amongst the teams and impose a salary cap to keep expenditure down. Players, naturally, felt that such a cap would reduce their potential earnings.

TODO

See Also

An Essential Reading List

Seymour, Harold. Baseball: The Early Years ISBN 0-19-500100-1
Bouton, Jim. Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing The Knuckleball in the Major Leagues. One player's diary of the 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots ISBN 0020306652
James, Bill. The Historical Baseball Abstract (1985, 1987, and new 2001 edition)
Ritter, Lawrence. The Glory of their Times (1966; first-person accounts of life in baseball, in the early 20th century)
Tygiel, Jules. Past Time: Baseball as History ISBN 0195146042

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "History of baseball."

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Olympic medalists in baseball

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

These are the Olympic medalists in baseball. See Olympic medalists for medalists in other sports.

Men
Year Gold Silver Bronze
1992CubaTaiwanJapan
1996CubaJapanUnited States
2000United StatesCubaSouth Korea

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Olympic medalists in baseball."

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San Francisco Giants

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California. They are in the Western Division of the National League.

Founded: either 1879 or 1883. The Troy Haymakers (or sometimes Trojans) were expelled from the National League after the 1882 season. New York had been without a club since 1878, when its club had been expelled; John B. Day was awarded the New York franchise, and so bought up the defunct Troy club.
Formerly known as: New York Gothams (1883-1884), New York Giants (1885-1957), moved to San Francisco in 1958.
Home ballpark: SBC Park (formerly known as Pacific Bell Park (2000-2003))
Uniform colors: Black, Orange, and French Vanilla (off-white)
Logo design: The word "GIANTS" superimposed over a baseball. Alternatively, a script "G", or an intertwined "SF".
Wild Card titles won (1): 2002
Division titles won (6): 1971, 1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2003
National League pennants won (20): 1888, 1889, 1904, 1905, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954, 1962, 1989, 2002
World Series championships won (5): 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954

Franchise history

Early Success

(1880s; Temple Cup in 1894)

The Worst Owner in the World

(Andrew Freedman, abrasive and meddling -- the George Steinbrenner of his time -- 1890s)

is McGraw"">

"The team is McGraw"

(1903-1932, and on through the 30s as an influence)

The Shot Heard Round The World

(1951)

The Catch

(1954) In Game 1 of the World Series, Willie Mays makes "The Catch" -- a dramatic over-the-shoulder catch of a line drive to deep center field which would otherwise have given Cleveland the lead.

West Coast

(1958 to present)

The Giants have played in three World Series since moving to San Francisco, but have yet to win one. In 1962, they lost 4 games to 3 to the New York Yankees. In 1989, they faced the Oakland Athletics in the "Bay Bridge Series." The series is perhaps best remembered for when the ground shook on October 17, 1989 before game 3 at Candlestick Park. The 7.1-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake caused a ten-day delay in the series. Oakland went on to sweep San Francisco 4 games to none.

The Giants reached the World Series again in 2002 as the wild card team. As underdogs, they defeated the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS 3 games to 2, and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS 4 games to 1, to stake claim to their first NL pennant since 1989. The Giants faced their wild card counter-parts from the American League, the Anaheim Angels. The Giants took a 3-2 lead in the series and were up 5-0 in the seventh inning of Game 6, just eight outs away their first championship since moving to San Francisco. The Angels rallied to win the game and defeated Livan Hernandez in game seven to win their first World Series in franchise history.

In 2003, the Giants recorded 100 victories for the seventh time in franchise history and the third in San Francisco. With their 100-61 record, the Giants spent the entire season in first place in the NL West. They became just the ninth wire-to-wire winner of a division or pennant in baseball history. The previous three were Baltimore in 1997, Cleveland in 1998, and Seattle in 2001.

Players of note

Baseball Hall of Famers

Current stars

Not to be forgotten

Retired numbers

External links

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Synonyms: Baseball

Synonyms: ball (n), baseball game (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Baseball

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Amusement

Athletic sports, gymnastics; archery, rifle shooting; tournament, pugilism; (contention); sports; horse racing, the turf; aquatics; skating, sliding; cricket, tennis, lawn tennis; hockey, football, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, basketball; rackets, fives, trap bat and ball, la grace; pall-mall, tipcat, croquet, golf, curling, pallone, polo, water polo; tent pegging; tilting at the ring, quintain; greasy pole; quoits, horseshoes, discus; rounders, lacrosse; tobogganing, water polo; knurr and spell.

Clothing

Headdress, headgear; chapeau, crush hat, opera hat; kaffiyeh; sombrero, jam, tam-o-shanter, tarboosh, topi, sola topi, pagri, puggaree; cap, hat, beaver hat, coonskin cap; castor, bonnet, tile, wideawake, wimple; nightcap, mobcap, skullcap; hood, coif; capote, calash; kerchief, snood, babushka; head, coiffure; crown; (circle); chignon, pelt, wig, front, peruke, periwig, caftan, turban, fez, shako, csako, busby; kepi, forage cap, bearskin; baseball cap; fishing hat; helmet; mask, domino.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Baseball

English words defined with "baseball": baseball bat, baseball card, baseball clinic, baseball club, baseball coach, baseball diamond, baseball equipment, baseball game, baseball glove, baseball league, baseball manager, baseball mitt, baseball play, baseball player, baseball score, baseball season, baseball swing, baseball team ♦ professional baseball. (references)
Specialty definitions using "baseball": After "of", APRIL 19 ♦ BASE FILLER, Baseball Coils, baseball-glove stuffer, BASE-FILLER OPERATOR ♦ cage clerk, cashier, ticket selling ♦ DIRECTOR, SPORTS, dressing-room attendant ♦ GROUP-SALES REPRESENTATIVE ♦ hand lacer ♦ inserter, INSTRUCTOR, PHYSICAL EDUCATION ♦ LINING INSERTER, lining stuffer, locker attendant, LOCKER-ROOM ATTENDANT, locker-room clerk ♦ McGRAW, Monday ♦ Nerd pride ♦ personal attendant, process inspector, promotor, group-ticket sales ♦ SHAPER, BASEBALL GLOVE, SPORT-SHOE-SPIKE ASSEMBLER, steamer and shaper, STUFFING-MACHINE OPERATOR, suit attendant ♦ teacher, physical education, TICKET SELLER ♦ Yin-Yang Coil. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Baseball" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Czech (baseball), Danish (baseball), Dutch (baseball), German (ball, baseball), Hungarian (baseball, hardball), Italian (baseball), Romanian (base-ball), Swedish (baseball).

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Modern Usage: Baseball

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Then hit yourself over the head with a baseball bat, would you please (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin.)

The President will get his baseball glove back and play catch with this guy's balls (Air Force One; writing credit: Andrew W. Marlowe)

No, Jor-El the baseball player (Superman II; writing credit: Jerry Siegel; Joe Shuster)

But when I was about 18 and my dad and I couldn't communicate about anything at all, we could still talk about baseball. Now that - that was real (City Slickers; writing credit: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and Billy Crystal)

You'll hump a baseball glove (Good Will Hunting; writing credit: Matt Damon; Ben Affleck)

Lyrics

Playin' baseball with chert rocks, usin' sawmill slabs for bats (Mountain Music; performing artist: ALABAMA; writing credit: Randy Owen)

'58 Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball (We Didn't Start The Fire; performing artist: Billy Joel)

Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat ("The Message"; performing artist: Grandmaster Flash)

Movie/TV Titles

The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola (1972)

Mexican Baseball (1947)

Baseball Bugs (1946)

Negro Leagues Baseball (1946)

Batty Baseball (1944)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Baseball

DomainTitle

References

  • Cleveland Indians Baseball Company, Inc.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • Birdie : Confessions of a Baseball Nomad (reference)

  • Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues (reference)

  • Blackball Superstars: Legendary Players of the Negro Baseball Leagues (Young Adult Series) (reference)

  • Blackball, the story of black baseball (reference)

  • Baseball Blackout (Hello Reader-Level 1) (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  • Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns (reference)

  • MLB - The Ultimate Blooper Collection (This Week in Baseball) (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  

High Tech

  

Consumer Goods

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Baseball

Photos:
Baseball

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Baseball

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Baseball

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Baseball

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Shown is a child running to catch a baseball out of the air. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).

Baseball at Dutch Harbor - the national pastime goes to the Aleutians. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

The crew of the SURVEYOR playing baseball at Dutch Harbor. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Part of the crowd celebrating the 4th of July at St. Paul. A number of representatives of the local baseball team are dressed for a game. F&WS 10,020. Credit: America's Coastlines.

Antarctic beach party. Football, frisbee, and baseball below the Antarctic Circle. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.

Soybeans are practically as much a part of American life as baseball. They're grown today in more than half the United States. These seeds, from the National Soybean Germplasm Collection housed at Urbana, Illinois, show a wide range of colors, sizes, and shapes. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer..

Edison baseball team;1929;{10.111/4}.

U.S. Army. Base Hospital No.33, Portsmouth, England. : Baseball. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

U.S. Army, Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver, CO. : Baseball Team. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Ship's baseball team, 1912. Credit: NAVY.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Baseball
 

"Baseball Crowd" by Ryan Glanzer
Commentary: "The crowd at a Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians game at the Metrodome."		"Baseball game 9" by Liz Bogus
Commentary: "Some pics of a Pirates vs Expos game i went to a bit ago."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Sounds Captioned with "Baseball".

PlayCaptionPlayCaption
Charge!; bugle; racing; sporting event; baseball; track; horse race; battle.Bloop; blooping; bloops; baseball; run; hit; bases; bat; batter.
Bugle; brass; military instrument; horseracing; track; sporting event; baseball.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Familiar Quotations: Baseball

AuthorQuotation

Jacques Barzun

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Baseball

SubjectTopicQuote

Business

This is a relatively young and “hip” audience, who appreciates T-shirt, baseball cap, and other logo merchandise giveaways from your sponsors. (references)

Lately, baggy clothes, typical of U.S. teens, have become popular for the Argentine youth, and t-shirts, baseball caps and logos in English have been traditional favorites. (references)

Human Rights

Brazil

They also claimed to have been beaten with a baseball bat. (references)

United Kingdom

The attackers have used iron pipes, baseball bats, sledgehammers, and spiked clubs to beat their victims or shot them in the knees and legs. (references)

Minorities

Yugoslavia

On March 1, a group of skinheads attacked a group of Roma in Belgrade with baseball bats, sticks and rocks. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

MONDAY, n. In Christian countries, the day after the baseball game.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Spoken Usage: Baseball

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Rudy Giuliani

I don't know. I mean, I guess it's a dream that all of us who love baseball have of being baseball commissioner.

Rush Limbaugh

The answer is more baseball bats, more pianos, more homes, more of the beautiful things you can do with trees once you chop them down.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Speeches: Baseball

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Bill Clinton

1993-2001So for far more than baseball, Sammy Sosa, you are a hero to two countries.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: Baseball

"Baseball" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.21% of the time. "Baseball" is used about 378 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words		Rank in English
Noun (singular)99.21%37514,556
Noun (common)0.53%2245,945
Noun (proper)0.26%1339,140
                    Total100.00%378N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Usage in Company Names: Baseball

CountryName
USA

Cleveland Indians Baseball Company, Inc.

 (more examples...)

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

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Expressions: Baseball

Expressions using "baseball": baseball bat ♦ baseball cap ♦ baseball card ♦ baseball clinic ♦ baseball club ♦ baseball coach ♦ baseball diamond ♦ baseball equipment ♦ baseball finger ♦ baseball game ♦ baseball glove ♦ baseball league ♦ baseball manager ♦ baseball mitt ♦ baseball play ♦ baseball player ♦ baseball score ♦ baseball seam coil ♦ baseball season ♦ baseball swing ♦ baseball team ♦ professional baseball. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "baseball": baseball-glove, baseball-hit, baseball-type.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Baseball

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day		ExpressionFrequency
per Day

fantasy baseball

30,546

baseball rule

1,012

baseball

18,639

baseball camp

988

major league baseball

6,164

free fantasy baseball

985

college baseball

5,201

texas ranger baseball

943

yahoo fantasy baseball

4,751

baseball odds

913

baseball bat

3,875

major league baseball draft

874

baseball card

3,292

baseball handicapping

843

ncaa baseball

3,235

baseball hat

843

espn baseball

2,885

baseball stats

843

baseball hall of fame

2,183

baseball jersey

828

minor league baseball

2,127

baseball history

798

baseball america

1,811

youth baseball

774

baseball gloves

1,676

baseball college world series

764

baseball and equipment

1,623

baseball line

727

baseball draft

1,563

usssa baseball

716

baseball uniform

1,291

baseball game

696

little league baseball

1,234

baseball picture

669

baseball cap

1,223

baseball player

664

baseball score

1,198

lsu baseball

663

ticket to watch baseball

1,078

baseball clipart

661
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Baseball

Language Translations for "baseball"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

bejsbol. (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏لعبة البيسبول (rounders), ‏البيسبول. (various references)

   

Asturian

  

beisbol. (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

mióhpokon. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

бейзбол. (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

bisbol. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

棒球 . (various references)

   

Czech

  

baseball. (various references)

   

Danish

  

baseball. (various references)

   

Dutch

  

baseball. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

bazopilkludo, basbalo. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

بازی بیس بال . (various references)

   

Finnish

  

tennispallokela (baseball seam coil, quadrupolar lace coil, quadrupolar seamcoil, tennis ball seam coil), räpylä (baseball mitt, web), pesäpallokela (baseball seam coil, quadrupolar lace coil, quadrupolar seamcoil, tennis ball seam coil), pesäpallo (Finnish baseball). (various references)

   

French

  

base-ball. (various references)

   

Frisian

  

basebal. (various references)

   

German

  

baseball (ball). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

μπέιζμπολ. (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

כדור בסיס (softball), ביסבול. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

baseball (hardball). (various references)

   

Inuktitut

  

anauligaq. (various references)

   

Italian

  

baseball. (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

野球　, 野球 . (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

やきゅう. (various references)

   

Korean 

  

야구. (various references)

   

Macedonian

  

bejzbol. (various references)

   

Manx

  

bluckan-valley. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

aseballbay.(various references)

   

Portuguese

  

beisebol. (various references)

   

Provencal

  

beisbòl. (various references)

   

Russian 

  

бейсбол (ball game). (various references)

   

Samoan

  

pesipolo. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

bezbol, bejzbol, lopta za bejzbol. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

béisbol. (various references)

   

Swedish

  

baseball. (various references)

   

Thai

  

กีฬาเบสบอล. (various references)

   

Turkish

  

beysbol topu, beysbol (ball game). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

бейсбол (ball). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Baseball

Derivations

Words beginning with "baseball": baseballs. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Baseball" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Asball, Bagenal, basball, basebal, baseballer, basebell, caseball. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Baseball

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-a-b-b-e-l-l-s"

-1 letter: salable.

-2 letters: babels, labels.

-3 letters: abase, abbas, abbes, ables, albas, baals, babas, babel, babes, balas, bales, balls, balsa, basal, bells, blabs, blase, blebs, label, sable, salal.

-4 letters: aals, abas, abba, abbe, able, alae, alas, alba, albs, ales, alls, asea, baal, baas, baba, babe, bale, ball, bals, base, bell, bels, blab, blae, bleb, ebbs, ells.

 Words containing the letters "a-a-b-b-e-l-l-s"
 

+1 letter: baseballs, beanballs.

 

+2 letters: basketball.

 

+3 letters: abolishable, basketballs.

 

+5 letters: bouillabaisse, establishable.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern 		5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art 		9. Sounds
10. Quotations: Familiar
11. Quotations: Non-fiction
12. Quotations: Spoken 		13. Quotations: Speeches
14. Usage Frequency
15. Names: Company Usage
16. Expressions 		17. Expressions: Internet
18. Translations: Modern
19. Derivations
20. Anagrams 		21. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.