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The Baseball Portal

Baseball is a sport played between two teams of nine or 10 players each, depending on whether a designated hitter is being used. It is a bat-and-ball game in which a pitcher throws (pitches) a hard, fist-sized, leather-covered ball toward a batter on the opposing team. The batter attempts to hit the baseball with a tapered cylindrical bat, made of wood (as required in professional baseball) or a variety of other materials, such as aluminum, as allowed in many non-professional games. A team scores runs only when batting, by advancing its players — primarily via hits — past a series of four markers called bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or "diamond." The game, played without time restriction, is structured around nine segments called innings. In each inning, both teams are given the opportunity to bat and score runs; a team's half-inning ends when three outs are recorded against that team.

Baseball, at both the professional and amateur levels, is popular in North America, Central America, parts of South America, parts of the Caribbean, and East Asia. The modern version of the game developed in North America during the eighteenth century. The consensus of historians is that it evolved from earlier bat-and-ball games, such as rounders, brought to the continent by British and Irish immigrants. By the late nineteenth century, baseball was widely recognized as the national sport of the United States. The game is sometimes referred to as hardball to differentiate it from similar sports such as softball. (more...)

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Selected biography

Robert William Meusel (July 19, 1896 – November 28, 1977) was an American left and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played eleven seasons from 1920 to 1930, all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was best known as a member of the Yankees championship teams of the 1920s, nicknamed the "Murderers' Row", during which time the team won its first six American League pennants and first three World Series titles.

Meusel, noted for his strong throwing arm in the outfield, batted fifth behind Baseball Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.[1] In 1925 he joined Ruth in becoming the second Yankee to lead the AL in either home runs (33), runs batted in (138) or extra base hits (79). Nicknamed "Long Bob" because of his 6 foot, 3 inch (1.91 m) stature, Meusel batted .313 or better in seven of his first eight seasons, finishing with a .309 career average; his 1,005 RBI during the 1920s were the fourth most by any major leaguer, and trailed only Harry Heilmann's total of 1,131 among AL right-handed hitters. Meusel ended his career in 1930 with the Cincinnati Reds. He hit for the cycle three times, a feat accomplished by only one other player previously and one since.

His older brother, Emil "Irish" Meusel, was a star outfielder in the National League during the same period, primarily for the New York Giants, who shared a stadium with the Yankees during part of their careers. He had a comparable career batting average (.310) but, unlike Bob, had a weak throwing arm which prevented him from being a great outfielder.[1] (more)

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