The modern game of baseball is barely recognizable from its earliest official form as drawn up in the Knickerbocker Rules. Originally, players didn't wear gloves, there were no home runs, pitches were thrown underhand, and there wasn't even a fly out rule. Since then, the rules of baseball have changed virtually every year, evolving very slowly with developments in glove, bat, and protective technologies. But even the modern game stays true to its pastoral roots, as is evidenced by these general rules offered by Dazadi. These are by no means meant to be official of definitive, but rather are meant to give players a basic understanding of how the game is played.

Goal

The goal of baseball is to score more runs by advancing the most players to home base than the opposing team. A player can only advance to home base once he or she has passed first, second, and third base.

Team

Each team consists of at least nine players. While playing defense, a team assigns the roles of pitcher, catcher, shortstop, 3 basemen, and 3 outfielders. While playing offense, the players bat in a specific order, which loops once the last player has batted.

Innings

Baseball is not a timed sport. Rather, it is played in nine "innings," more if there is tie by the end of the ninth inning. Each inning consists of a "top" (the first half of the inning) and a "bottom" (the second half). At the top of each inning the home team plays defense (fields), while the visiting team plays offense (bats), and the teams switch once the inning half is over.

Field

The field consists of four bases (first, second, third, and home), a pitchers mound, and an outfield. The exact distance between the bases varies from league to league, and the dimensions the outfield can even vary from park to park. For instance, major league rules stipulate that the distance between bases be 90 feet, while little leagues usually have it at 60 feet. The area outside of first base and third base is the foul zone. A batted ball is not considered in play if it touches the ground in this area.

Pitching

The ball is put into play by a pitcher situated on the pitcher's mound throwing it within the batter's strike zone towards the catcher, who is situated behind home plate. Again, the distance between home plate and the pitcher's mound can vary. Major league has it at 60 feet 6 inches while little leaguers play with it at 46 feet.

Strikes

There are three ways that a pitch can be called a strike. One, the pitcher can throw the ball within a players strike zone without the batter touching it with the bat. Two, the batter can swing at the ball without making contact with it. And three, the ball can be batted in the foul zone. Please note that the third instance is only considered a strike if the batter has less than two strikes. Otherwise it counts as nothing.

Outs

An inning half is over when there are three "outs." There are four ways that a batter or runner can be called out. One, the player can have three strikes. Two, a batted ball can be caught before it touches the ground. Three, a runner can be tagged with the baseball while not touching a base. And four, a runner can have a fielder who is in possession of the ball touch the base to which he is attempting to advance while there is no possibility of retreating to the previous base. A runner cannot retreat to home base or any base that is already occupied by another runner. This is called a "force out."

Walks

If a batter is walked, he or she automatically advances to first base. There are two ways that player can be walked. The player can either be struck with a pitch, or have four "balls." A "ball" is a pitch that is outside of the strike zone at which the batter did not swing.

Fair Ball

A ball that touches the ground in the fair zone is considered a fair ball, and the batter then becomes a runner.