Baseball is a game full of numbers. Two teams of nine players each play it. The bases are 90 feet (27 meters) apart. Even a date counts: the first official Little League game was played on June 6, 1939. Count these numbers as you read, and you will know a lot about the game.

Pitching has its own numbers. The pitcher stands on the pitcher's mound. The pitching rubber is 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. The catcher crouches behind home plate and catches the pitches. The pitcher throws the ball and the batter tries to hit it with the bat.

Batters have numbers too. The strike zone is the area over home plate between the middle of the batter's body and the kneecaps. The four kinds of hits are singles, doubles, triples and home runs. Batting average is a batter's hits divided by his times at bat. A designated hitter, or DH, bats in place of the pitcher.

One kind of hit is the home run. On a home run, the batter goes around all the bases and scores, and so does every runner already on base. Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs in his major league career. Hank Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs.

Speed counts in baseball too. A stolen base happens when a runner moves up to the next base on his own, not because of a hit. Rickey Henderson stole 1,406 bases in his career. As of November 2026, that is the most in major league history.

Some records belong to pitchers. Cy Young won 511 games as a pitcher. As of November 2026, that is almost 100 more than any other pitcher in history. A pitcher is also judged by earned run average, or ERA. It is the number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings.

The defense has its own numbers. Three strikes make a strikeout, and three outs end a team's turn at bat. A batter is out if the ball is caught or thrown to first base before the batter gets there. A foul ball counts as a strike unless the batter already has two strikes. A double play is a play in which two runners or batters are put out.

A game is divided into nine innings. In each inning, each team bats once: one team in the top half and the other in the bottom half. What if the score is tied after nine innings? Then extra innings are played until one team is ahead.

Words to know

• innings: parts of play
• pitcher: the thrower
• average: hits divided
• strikeout: three strikes
• bases: field stops

The short version

Baseball is played by two teams of nine players each, and the pitcher throws the ball while the batter tries to hit it with the bat. A run is scored when a player goes around the bases and gets back to home plate. A game is divided into nine innings.

Quick facts

• The bases are 90 feet (27 meters) apart, and the pitching rubber is 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate.
• Three strikes make a strikeout, and a team's turn at bat ends when it makes three outs.
• The four kinds of hits are singles, doubles, triples and home runs.
• As of November 2026, Cy Young's 511 wins are almost 100 more than any other pitcher in history.
• The first official Little League game was played on June 6, 1939.