A baseball game is contested between two teams with nine players each. At the beginning of the game the home team plays defense (all players are on the field). The playing field is made up of four bases, which are arranged as a square with 27.43m between them (18,29m in Softball). Each defense player has a designated position on the field. Four infielders make up the first defense line; behind them, three outfielders build the second line. The most important defense player is the pitcher, who stands on a slightly elevated spot (approx. 25 cm) in the middle of the infield (there is no elevation in softball). The ninth defense player is the catcher, who works closely together with the pitcher. The distance between the two is 18.45m (in softball 12m). The batting team (offense) starts off sitting on the bench and one at a time the players come forward (in a predefined order = line-up) to bat. The center of attention during the game is the home plate. This is where the first batter of the offense stands and tries to hit the ball into the field.

The pitcher must throw the ball within a certain area in front of the batter. This zone (strike zone) is as wide as the home plate and the height is measured from under the shoulders of the batter to his knees. The umpire, who stands right behind the catcher, judges if the ball was thrown correctly within this area (= strike) or not (= ball). The umpire counts the number of balls and strikes that the pitcher throws. This duel between the batter and pitcher can end in several different ways:
1. The batter is out (must return to the bench) because he missed hitting the ball, which was correctly thrown in the strike zone, three times (strike out).
2. The batter can advance to the first of the four bases because the pitcher threw the ball outside of the strike zone four times (balls).
3. The pitcher hits the batter with the ball (hit by pitch) and the batter may therefore immediately advance to the first base.
4. Or the batter manages to hit the ball into the field and therefore becomes a runner.

Every batter, that manages to hit the ball into the field, becomes a base-runner. He will try to advance as far as possible from base to base while the defense tries to recover the ball to throw it back. If the runner has at least reached the first base before the defense is able to return with the ball, he will stay there (= he is safe) and the next offense player will come to bat. Only one offense player is allowed to stand on each base. The bases are considered "safety zones" and as long as the runner does not leave his base nothing can happen to him. This play continues and each runner of the offense team, who manages to reach all bases (counterclockwise) including running over the home plate (4th base), scores a run (point) for their team. If the batter hits the ball so hard and far into the field that he is able to run completely around all bases and home before the ball is returned, he scores a "home run". It is also a home run if the ball is hit over the back field boundary (usually a fence). In this case the runner can safely run around the bases back to home plate without resistance by the defense players.

The defense team's task is to try to get three "outs" as quickly as possible (this means tag the runner before he reaches one of the bases safely). When this goal is reached the team on the field (defense) returns to the bench and has their time as batting team (offense). And the team batting up until now becomes the fielding team and takes their positions on the field. There are various ways to achieve the three necessary "outs".
1. As already mentioned above, the batter is out if he fails to hit a correctly thrown ball three times (strike out).
2. If the ball, which was hit by the batter, is caught in the air by a defense player (without touching the ground = fly out).
3. If the field players are able to recover the ball and throw it to 1st base, where it is caught by a defense player before the batter/runner makes it there (= force out). The base umpire decides whether the ball or the runner reached the base first.
4. The fourth method of getting an out is to tag a runner while he is not on a base. This is achieved when a defense player touches the runner with the ball in his hand (not by throwing the ball at the runner!).

One "inning" is over when each team has finished their turn at bat. A game consists of nine innings. Baseball is not played within a certain time-frame - one game takes approximately two to three hours. If there is a tie after nine innings then the game must go on until one of the teams lies ahead at the end of an inning. The exciting part of a game is the duel between the pitcher and the batter. The pitcher tries to throw the ball to the catcher in such tricky variations so that the batter has no chance of hitting it. The ball (approx. 7 cm in diameter) is thrown with speeds between 80 and 160 km/h. The pitcher and catcher communicate with secret hand signals so that they each know how the baseball will be thrown on the next pitch.