2012年1月27日金曜日

Famous Players

There are very famous players in MLB, I choose two players of them.
 
First, I think Everybody know Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez who is the Yankees fourth batter!
He called "A-Rod", everybody had heard this nickname.He is 36 old, his annual salary is $32,000,000 last year!!!
He played Basketball and American-foot-ball, too.
He was a star shortstop at Miami's Westminster Christian High School. In 100 games he batted .419 with 90 steals!!
I think he is the best player in the world!




Next is Randall David Johnson who called "Randy Johnson".
He is a representative of Major League Baseball Left-handed Pitcher in 1990-2000, with the nickname of the Big Unit.
He is famous from few player that major league 2m8cm tall, 102mph fastest (164km/h ) straight (hour seam) and two slider ,splitter, split two seam throw.
He is a great player have accomplished a NO-HITTER!!

 

2012年1月20日金曜日

Baseball Rules

RULE
A game is played between two teams, each composed of nine players, that take turns playing offense (batting or hitting) and defense (fielding or pitching). A pair of turns, one at bat and one in the field, by each team constitutes an inning. A game consists of nine innings. One team—customarily the visiting team—bats in the top, or first half, of every inning. The other team—customarily the home team—bats in the bottom, or second half, of every inning. The goal of the game is to score more points (runs) than the other team. The players on the team at bat attempt to score runs by circling or completing a tour of the four bases set at the corners of the square-shaped baseball diamonds. A player bats at home plate and must proceed counterclockwise to first base, second base, third base, and back home in order to score a run. The team in the field attempts both to prevent runs from scoring and to record outs, which remove opposing players from offensive action until their turn in their team's batting order comes up again. When three outs are recorded, the teams switch roles for the next half-inning. If the score of the game is tied after nine innings, extra innings are played to resolve the contest. Children's games are often scheduled for fewer than nine innings.

MLB organization

As of the 2011 season, Major League Baseball is divided into the American League (14 teams) and the National League (16 teams).
Currently, each league is further subdivided into three divisions – labeled East, Central, and West. The three-division structure dates back to 1994, the first season after the National League expanded to 14 teams. From 1969 through 1993, each league consisted of an East and West division. Through 1996, the two leagues met on the field only during the World Series and the All-star Game: in 1997, regular-season inter-league play was introduced.
In March 1995, two new franchises—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were awarded by Major League Baseball, to begin play in 1998. This addition would bring the total number of franchises to 30. In early 1997, Major League Baseball decided to assign one new team to each league: Tampa Bay joined the American League and Arizona joined the National League. The original plan was to have an odd number of teams in each league (15 per league, with 5 in each division). MLB also planned to introduce interleague play in 1997, but—with each league having an odd number of teams—interleague play would have had to be used throughout the entire season, to allow every team to play every day. It was unclear, though, if interleague play would continue after the 1998 season, as it had to be approved by the players' union. For this and other reasons, it was decided that both leagues should continue to have an even number of teams; one existing club would have to switch leagues. The Milwaukee Brewers agreed in November 1997 to move from the American League to the National League, thereby making the National League a 16-team league.
Following the 2011 season, Major League Baseball announced its plan to move the Houston Astros from the NL Central to the AL West for the 2013 season, resulting in both leagues having 3 divisions of 5 teams each and allowing all teams to have a more balanced schedule. (MLB required the Astros to accept this move as a condition of approving their sale to Jim Crane.) Because each league will have an odd number of teams, interleague play will occur throughout the season, so that every team will be able to play every day.
The two leagues were once separate, rival corporate entities, but that distinction has all but disappeared. In 1903, the two leagues began to meet in an end-of-year championship series called the World Series. In 1920, the weak National Commission, which had been created to manage relationships between the two leagues, was replaced with the much more powerful Commissioner of Basaball, who had the power to make decisions for all of professional baseball unilaterally. In 2000, the American and National Leagues were dissolved as legal entities, and Major League Baseball became a single, overall "league" de jure (albeit with two components called "leagues"), although it had operated as a de facto single entity for many years.
The same rules and regulations are used in both leagues, with one exception: the American League operates under the Designated Hitter Rule, while the National League does not. This difference in rules between leagues is unique to MLB; the other sports leagues of the US and Canada—including the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League—have one set of rules for all teams.