Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each. It is the oldest major team sport in North America, and its roots can be traced back to England’s rounders. The objective of the game is for one team to score more runs than their opponent at the end of an allotted period (usually 9 innings). A run is scored when a batter hits a ball out into play, then advances around all four bases before being tagged by an opposing player with possession of the ball.

The modern form of baseball originated in 1845 when Alexander Cartwright codified rules that were widely accepted throughout New York City clubs, which soon spread across America and Canada; this version was called “the National Game”. In 1903 formation began for what would become Major League Baseball – now consisting 30 teams split over American and Canadian divisions – as well as minor leagues such as Triple A. Over time various other professional organizations have formed including Japanese Professional Baseball and Korea Basebal Union since 1950s

A typical Major League game consists three distinct phases: batting order & fielding setup (where each side nominates batters), pitching/batting phase where pitcher attempts strikes against hitters while fielders attempt to catch or throw out runners on base; finally running phase involving baserunners attempting steals or advancing safely along field towards home plate scoring points for their team. Other variations include softball (which has shorter distance between bases) and little league games made up younger participants aged 5–16 years old respectively who usually compete within local communities/townships rather than professionally like senior baseball counterparts do internationally!

Baseball continues remain popular amongst both casual spectators watching from sidelines or dedicated diehards who follow every pitch closely – although popularity levels vary significantly depending upon location due factors such economic stability present region culture surrounding sport itself etc., making it difficult accurately quantify fanbase size worldwide without further research study analysis first hand accounts collected directly those involved industry today even though some estimates put total number fans hitting 10 million mark globally just last year alone!