| We may have all watched a baseball game sometime in our life, as this the most popular pastime in America. But have we concentrated into the equipments required to play this sport? Many sports require some basic equipment, and baseball is no different. Equipments may be required for different reasons like to play the game and/or for safety.
Before even thinking of playing baseball many types of equipment are required, to get started. While we know the basics like balls, bats, and gloves, have we realized how the requirements for the equipment have changed over the pat years?
To begin with we see many players sporting gloves. But do you remember in the early day’s players didn’t wear gloves. The very first gloves used by players were of thin material covering only the palms, but this was an improvement from playing bare-handed. Currently there are different types of gloves for the different players. For example, the catchers wear round, padded and big gloves, the first baseman wears longer gloves than other fielders and outfielders attire larger gloves than infielders.
In early days the bases were high posts of four foot. But many players got injured by just running into them. They experimented with flat large rocks, but still the players were prone to injuries. Finally after much consideration, they settled for soft sacks filled with sand. To this day, bases are made like the bags filled with sand.
Baseball players were prone for injuries. This lead to many safety gears, never worn by early players. Today’s players wear face-masks, helmets, chest protectors, cups and shin guards.
Bats are the basic requirement to play a game of baseball. In major leagues wooden bats are the only bats used. Rules of baseball specify that bats can be 42 inches long. These bats at the broadest point can only be 2 ¾ inches in diameter. Baseball bats are mostly made of white ash wood, as it helps soak up some of the shock, specially when hitting a 90 mile-per-hour pitch. Bats are cut to shape as per a player’s specification. Sometimes a major league player may use up to seventy bats in a season.
When it comes to baseballs, all are made of identical size and weigh the same. These baseballs are of circumference nine to nine & quarter inches and weight five to five & quarter ounces. The centre of a baseball is cork; rubber is used to cover the cork ball. Then wool and cotton yarn are wound tightly around the rubber center and core. Did you know that if the yarn is stretched its length would exceed the length of three football fields?
These are the basics of popular baseball equipment used in the game.
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