A. Baseball is a much-loved national sport in USA. It’s also popular in the countries of South America and Japan. Europe is another matter. Not many baseball teams exist in Europe today. It is slowly changing. Since baseball is an Olympic sport, lots of countries are joining the game! B. Going to baseball games is a way of life for many fans. They sit in the stands on hot and sunny spring and summer days, eat hot dogs or popcorn, sip cola or lemonade and enjoy the game. Adults and children alike attend games, and it’s a sport that everyone seems to love. Baseball is such a part of American life that nearly everyone’s favourite childhood memory includes a day at the ballpark.
C. Modern baseball began about 150 years ago in New York, USA and has been popular sport ever since. It has changed a little bit over the years but the basic game remains the same. Baseball is played with a bat, which is a stick of about 100 cm long, made of metal or wood, and a small hard ball. Each player wears one heavy leather glove to catch the ball. Baseball is played on a special outdoor field.
D. The game of baseball is divided into nine parts, called innings. During an inning, each of the two teams takes its turn to bat, which means trying to hit the ball that is thrown to them by the pitcher of other team. After the ball is hit, the player tries to run and touch three different bases before running to the home base. The team that is not batting tries to catch the balls that are hit, and stop the runners before they score. The team that scores the most runs by the end of the ninth inning wins.
Task. Match the headings 1-6 with the paragraphs A-D.
1. Establishes the emotional importance of baseball for fans.
2. The origins of baseball.
3. The rules of playing the game
4. The facilities
5. The changes happening to baseball
6. Part of people’s life
