Basic Equipment Needed For A Baseball Game
Playing sports is one of the most common ways for people to be in good shape and avoid health problems. Among all outdoor sports, baseball seems to be an easy one to play with your friends. It is very popular and very easy to learn how to play. In addition, the game helps you understanding the importance of teamwork and how to win a game by cooperating with your teammates.
In this post, I will show you some basic equipment to play this game and how to choose the best product. Now, let’s get started and see what baseball equipment you are going to need in order to play your game in a good way!
1. The basic rules of baseball
Basically, baseball is a team sport played between two teams in an enclosed field. Each team has 9 members and all the players will play with bats and a ball.
The baseball field has an area of 90 – foot square in diamond shape. It is divided into 2 different parts: the infield and the outfield. Any area outside these parts is considered foul area. For more information about the field and the bases, read the detailed instruction later.
Two teams will continuously play against each other for 9 innings. Each one consist of 2 turns: offensive and defensive play. Each team play a side – attacking or defending then switch themselves alternately.
Offensive team has to hit the ball tossed from the pitcher (ball thrower from the other team) from the middle of the infield and run around the bases to get the scores for each full base run. On the other hand, the defensive players have to make sure that the ball is not hit (3 times with 3 batters consecutively) or prevent the runner (batter who hits the ball and trying to run from the home base) from running full base.
The final score will be summed up and the team with higher score will be the winner.
2. Equipment for a baseball match
According to the rules, you need to be well – equipped before the match so as to protect yourself from any injuries on the fields as well as guarantee the game process. In fact, there are some fundamental things that you should buy and learn how to use. Here is my list that you should take a look.
– Baseball bat: This is the most important equipment used in baseball. The baseball bat is usually made from a piece of wood with certain measurements. According to the size of your hand size and arm size, you can have your own bat made from sport stores or just a normal one. The best baseball bats are made of light metal for lighter swing and additional forces. However, if you are just a beginner in this game, I suggest you master your skills with a light wood baseball bat for more comfort in controlling and swinging.
– Ball: Of course this is the most important equipment in this game. The baseball is played in the match by both teams and considered as the way to gain points. The baseball is made by rounding the yarn around the core made of rubber. The official baseball has the diameter of about 9 inches and quite soft. On the surface, there are 2 seams that help the ball flies through many different orbits. That’s the reason why pitchers can make many types of ball pitching including straight ball fast or slow, curve ball or even some unique pitches for their own.
– Gloves: There are two main types of gloves used in baseball. The first one is batting glove. This is optional and it helps the batter to hold the bat firmly and swing better. In some cases, runner can use this type of glove to prevent the dirt sticking to their hands while sliding to the base. In addition, batting glove can prevent some injuries to the hands when batting. Another type is the field glove. This is the must – have equipment for any defensive player. Basically no one should catch the ball with bare hands so this is the thing that enables you to catch it in spite of the speed of the ball. It has various sizes, types and shapes according to the purpose and the position of its owner. The main parts of the glove are the webbing and the palm area. Gloves are often made of leather so it can withstand some strong physical contacts when using in baseball matches.
– Cleats: Each player has to wear the cleats – a special type of shoe for baseball player. The cleats has may spikes under the soles so that is can make more contacts to the ground and help player stand when batting or pitching better.
– Other special equipment: Some particular positions need more types of equipment than others. Catchers are players who usually have to be equipped more. They have to stand on the orbit of the ball pitched by the pitcher with very high speed, so that they have to be covered all over the body so as to reduce the damage to minimum level. The covers have to be worn all over his body so that they can’t move quickly as other players and just need to stand on the home base. Another thing is the helmet. It cover the head and the face of catcher so that they can feel free to catch the ball without worrying about being hit directly to the face.
– Batting helmet: Each batter has to wear a helmet to avoid being hit by the ball tossed directly in a very fast speed.
3. Conclusion
So these are the basic equipment you need for a baseball match. The quality of the products depends on your choice and that’s the reason why you should look for them in sport stores that has good reputation. What are you waiting for? Let’s buy all of the baseball equipment and play some matches with your teammates!