Baseball
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A team scores only when batting, by advancing counter-clockwise past a series of four markers called bases arranged at the corners of a diamond. Each base is 90 feet from the previous base (except in amateur baseball).
Both "softball" and "hardball" fall under the sport named "baseball." The main difference between the two lies in pitching. In softball, the pitcher delivers the ball with an underhand throw, where in hardball, the ball is thrown overhand (hardball is traditional baseball). Other differences include ball size (softballs are larger) and field dimensions (softball outfields are shorter and distance between bases is 60 feet).
Baseball is most popular in the Americas and East Asia (although in South America only in the extreme northern portion). In Japan, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, Nicaragua, South Korea, and Taiwan, it is one of the most popular sports. In the United States (the birthplace of baseball), baseball has long been regarded as more than just a "major sport" - it has been considered, for decades, the national pastime and Major League Baseball has been given a unique monopoly status by the U.S. Congress; the total attendance for Major League games is roughly equal to that of all other American professional team sports combined, this being due to the fact that they play far more games per season (162 regular season and 11 minimum postseason games) than any other sport. Among American television viewers, however, baseball has been surpassed in popularity (in terms of television ratings) by American football. Although three of the four most popular sports in North America are ball games (baseball, basketball and American football), baseball's popularity grew so great that the word "ballgame" in the United States usually but not always refers to a game of baseball, and "ballpark" to a baseball field. Of notable exception is in the south, where "ballgame" is used more frequently in association with the more popular football.
In NS Baseball is a lot like RL Baseball in the fact that it not often played outside of nations where it is popular. There have been at least one NS World series, but it is unknown of the outcome or players. Baseball is extremely rarely seen RP-ed on the NS Forums.
There is currently a World Baseball Classic, a RPing event for those interested in baseball. There have been 3 World Baseball Classics sofar, and a 4th is about to begin soon.
