Baseball basics aren't all that hard to brush up on.
But I totally get that when you're suddenly faced with a sport you know nothing about and someone suggests watching a game on TV or maybe even catching one in person, it can be a little daunting. And if you're thinking about throwing bets into the mix, it's even more bamboozling.
But never fear! I'm here to let you in on a few facts about baseball that will clear some key things up for you. After you've got a hang of these baseball basics, you'll be able to enjoy the game a little bit more. And maybe even place a smarter bet too…
Alright, we're going to tackle these baseball basics from the start. This is a game played between two teams. Each team has nine players on it. And during the course of several plays (usually nine innings), each team takes turns batting and fielding.
A player from the fielding team (the pitcher) throws a ball towards a player on the batting team (the batter). The batter tries to hit the ball away from the batting team's players so they can run to different bases before the batting team can throw the ball to a base. If the batter does that successfully, he gets points which are called runs.
The batter will also be out if they don't hit the ball after the pitcher pitches it three times or if the fielders catch the ball before it touches the ground.
At the end of the ninth inning, the team with the most runs wins. However, if the teams are tied, another inning is played.
Baseball more than likely evolved out of other bat and ball games popular in Britain, Ireland and continental Europe. There's evidence stretching back to the 1200s that these kinds of games were popular with children as well as peasants and the working class.
Of course, it has shared origins with games like rounders and cricket too.
But modern baseball really began in North America in 1845, with the Knickerbocker Rules that set out how baseball is played. And all baseball basics evolved out of this crucial document.
In North America, Major League Baseball is synonymous with summer. The MLB season usually kicks off in either late March or early April, then stretches to late September or early October. For that reason, baseball games usually take place during sunny days and that's what makes it so nice to watch in person. So if you're going on a summer trip to the States, it's well worth trying to catch a game.
The New York Yankees are easily the biggest team in baseball, having won a massive 27 World Series titles to date.
Other brilliant teams to watch out for are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs.
It's well worth taking a look at any of their games and following how they're getting on through the season.
Why not brush up on your baseball basics in person? There are amazing stadiums you can visit all over North America, including Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, PNC Park, Petco Park and, of course, Yankee Stadium.
Now that you've got the baseball basics, you might want to place a little wager. And the good new is there are lots of great places to bet on baseball. I'm loving bet365, 888 and William Hill at the moment. They all have a great range of markets and good value odds. But if you want to sign up as a newbie, here's a little bonus code bet365 you can use if that's your sportsbook of choice…
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