Baseball rules

This article is about the rules of baseball. For the tort law rule governing liability for injuries to spectators from foul balls, see Baseball Rule.
Cover of Official Base Ball Rules, 1921 edition, used by the American League and National League

Throughout baseball's history, the rules have frequently changed as the game continues to evolve. A few common rules most professional leagues have in common are that four balls are a base on balls, three strikes are a strikeout, and three outs end a half-inning.

Baseball evolved out of bat-and-ball games in the mid-19th century, and its modern rules are based mainly on those first published in 1848.[1] Most rule sets are generally based on the Official Baseball Rules (OBR) published by Major League Baseball (MLB), though various minor variations exist from league to league; the World Baseball Softball Confederation maintains its own official rule set for international competition.[2]

  1. ^ Thorn, John, Baseball in the Garden of Eden: the Secret History of the Early Game. New York: Simon & Schuster 2011
  2. ^ "Major milestone in international baseball: WBSC unveils Official Rules of Baseball". WBSC.org.