Comparison between cricket and baseball (Part 1)

Baseball: Low scores, where 49 is considered mammoth. Run outs: Where one had to physically tag the runner in baseball.

Need we say more? These Americans are crazy!! In this series, the American game, and the game of the sub-continent is compared.

Baseball and cricket have a number of rules, terminology and strategies which are similar. Although the origins of baseball remain uncertain, both games are members of a family of vaguely similar bat-and-ball games, which also includes rounders and the now-extinct "Massachusetts Game" of baseball, which was similar to rounders.

Bat-and-ball games, in general, are sports in which the two opposing teams take turns playing two distinct roles that are continuous during a specified interval. This contrasts with "goal-oriented" games such as all forms of football and all forms of hockey and basketball, in which the "offensive" and "defensive" teams can reverse roles in an instant, and frequently do so throughout the game.

In both cricket and baseball, the players of one team attempt to score points known as runs by hitting a ball with a bat, while the members of the other team field the ball in an attempt to prevent scoring and to get batting players out.

Once a certain number of batting players are out (different in the two sports), the teams swap roles. This sequence of each team taking each role once is called an inning in baseball, and an innings in cricket (the singular form having a terminal 's').

A BASEBALL GAME CONSISTS OF NINE INNINGS, WHILE A CRICKET MATCH MAY HAVE EITHER ONE OR TWO INNINGS.

Despite their similarities, the two sports also have many differences, making them significantly different in aspects of play and strategy. A comparison between cricket and baseball is instructive to followers of either sport, since the similarities help to highlight nuances particular to each game.

Field

Minimum and example baseball and cricket field dimensions compared at the same scale.

Main articles

Baseball field, Cricket field, Cricket pitch

Baseball

Baseball is played in a quadrant of fair territory between foul lines. The official minimum distance from home plate to the far edge of fair territory is 250 feet, but the recommended distances are at least 325 feet along the foul lines and 400 feet in centre field(1). This produces a recommended fair territory field area just over 100,000 square feet. Most Major League Baseball parks have fair territory areas in the range 110,000 to 120,000 square feet(2).

Cricket

In contrast, Test and One-day International cricket is played on a field with a minimum width of 420 feet and length 426 feet, giving a minimum area of 140,500 square feet (assuming an elliptical shape). Test grounds around the world are typically 450x500 feet, an area of 175,000 square feet, and range up to the Melbourne Cricket Ground at 468x566 feet, or 207,000 square feet.

Consequences

Discounting the pitcher/bowler and catcher/wicket-keeper, this means Major League Baseball fielders must cover an average of approximately 16,500 square feet per fielder, while Test cricketers cover 19,500 square feet per fielder. In practice, fielders in both sports cover variable amounts of territory, with outfielders potentially having to run much farther to field a ball than infielders do.

BASEBALL GAMES HAVE FAR LOWER SCORES THAN CRICKET MATCHES. THE LARGEST COMBINED RUNS TOTAL IN A SINGLE GAME IN THE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IS 49, WHEREAS CRICKET MATCHES FREQUENTLY PRODUCE COMBINED TOTALS OF SEVERAL HUNDRED RUNS.

Each run in a baseball game is on a magnitude of roughly ten times the magnitude of a run in a cricket match; therefore moments of poor pitching (akin to bowling in cricket) and individual defensive mistakes are much more costly. A player who is a good batter, but who is not a competent fielder, will not play regularly, or only in the designated hitter position in leagues that use it.

One striking fielding difference between baseball and cricket is in throwing. In baseball, throws are mostly made in rapid succession from one player to the next, leading to low arcs often made while in mid-air or off-balance.

By contrast, throws in cricket are either high, outfield returns to the centre, or low throws that directly target the wicket, requiring similar speed. Sequences of two or more throws are common in baseball, but traditionally rare in cricket, although the "relay" has recently become fashionable, and is particularly effective when a ball is thrown backwards by a fielder forced to turn and run away from the action.

Baseball players must often make accurate throws immediately after catching the struck ball (for example, the double play), while this is unnecessary in cricket due to the ball being "dead" when an "out" is achieved.

Another major difference between the two sports is that the fielders in cricket are not allowed to use any sort of protection for the hands - padded or otherwise, in spite of the balls being of similar hardness.

The only exception to this rule in cricket is made for the wicket-keeper, who is allowed to wear padded gloves as well as leg guards. Catches in the slips and at mid-on or mid-off also require superior reflexes to those required by any baseball fielders other than the catcher and perhaps the pitcher. The best fielders in cricket also have the ability to hit a single stump (a very slender part of the wicket) from a fair distance (up to 100 feet) while running.

In baseball, catchers and first basemen wear mitts (which have no fingers) while the other fielders wear gloves (which do). Gloves and mitts allow one-handed catches to be more easily made while diving or jumping, including into the stands. These saves do not exist in cricket - if the fielder touches the boundary line while touching the ball, four or six runs are awarded. (Gloves were not worn in the early days of baseball, either, but the evolution of the game, with overhand pitching and power hitting, compelled their use.)

The nature of the bat and the manner of delivery of the ball affects defensive play and equipment significantly. Baseball bats are rounded, single sticks of wood (or metal, at some levels). Cricket bats are flat and laminated.

This allows a cricketer to make contact more easily and to "place" hits more easily, but with less power than a player with a baseball bat. Bowlers are compelled to bounce the ball on its way to the batsman, which slows it down; whereas pitchers are required to throw the ball over home plate on the fly. The net effect is that while a baseball may be more difficult to hit solidly, once it is hit hard, it is virtually impossible to catch with a bare hand, especially by an infielder.

Requirements of baseball also make athletic fielding more frequently necessary. Body contact between runner and fielder is frequent in baseball, particularly at home plate. This is driven to a large extent by the manner in which a runner is put out. In both sports, rules prohibit interfering with runners.

HOWEVER, IN BASEBALL, THE RUNNER HIMSELF (OR THE BASE HE IS ADVANCING TO, IF FORCED) MUST BE TAGGED BY A FIELDER HOLDING THE BALL, IN ORDER TO BE PUT OUT.

The catcher awaiting a throw will often stand between the plate and the runner. Once he catches it, the runner might try to go around the catcher, or he might simply bowl the catcher over, if he thinks he can dislodge the ball by such contact; and if the catcher does not have the ball, the runner may still bowl the catcher over, which is considered fair because by rule a fielder without a ball cannot impede a runner.

By contrast, in cricket, an out is made by the ball dislodging the bails from the wickets. The wicket is the target for "tagging" rather than the runner. No contact of the runners is either necessary or allowed. Contact between opposing sides is rare, and a matter for embarrassment and finger pointing.

The follow-through in a baseball swing.

There are many possibilities for a batsman in cricket - virtually every direction except immediately behind him is playable. Because the cricket bat is wide and flat, while the baseball bat is narrow and round, on the whole cricket batsmen find it easier to hit and direct the ball than baseball batters.

While bowlers can influence the ability of the batsmen to do so, perhaps the most famous episode being the now-banned Bodyline tactic, cricket batsmen are able to use a wider variety of batting strokes to direct the ball in many directions into a field which provides much more open space than in baseball.

In addition, cricket batsmen are under no obligation to attempt to score a run after any stroke, but must strike balls in order to prevent them from hitting the wicket. Many strokes are in fact defensive in nature against a well-bowled ball.

By contrast, the balance of power is largely reversed in baseball.

In general baseball emphasises fielding because baseball gloves make fielding easier, while cricket emphasises batting because the cricket bat makes batting easier.

The "strike zone" into which baseball pitches must be thrown.

Cricket bowlers, since they are not restricted to a small strike zone as their target, also use a wide variety of approaches which are not available to baseball pitchers. These involve varying the line and length of deliveries and using unpredictable movement caused by the ball bouncing on the pitch before it reaches the batsman.

Baseball pitchers, by contrast, must use changes in ball speed and movement caused only by air friction and spin to deceive batters, as most pitches which come near touching the ground are ineffectively allowed to pass as balls.

Furthermore, pitchers must begin their throw from a stationary position, while bowlers may run up to their delivery.

Despite this, however, a baseball pitcher is typically able to throw the ball faster than a cricket bowler, since pitchers are allowed to use whatever natural throwing motion suits them, Whereas Cricketers Must Bowl With An Unnatural Motion In Which The Elbow Does Not Straighten Throughout The Delivery.

Also, baseball pitchers throw from an elevated mound (10 inches/25.4 cm above the level of home plate), as opposed to cricket bowlers who run up through a flat pitch. While a fast bowler in cricket can bowl over 90 mph, a pitcher throwing a four-seam fastball can sometimes get the ball in the 95-100 mph range.

Cricket's bowlers are grouped into different categories based on their bowling style: pacemen, seamers, off-spinners, leg-spinners, wrist-spinners (as opposed to finger-spinners), etc., though a bowler often falls into more than one category.

Baseball's pitchers are grouped primarily by their throwing hand (left or right) and their usual role in games (a starting pitcher begins a game and usually pitches five or more innings, while a relief pitcher enters later in a game and usually pitches fewer innings, and some even specialize further as strictly closers brought in for the final one or two innings of a game); they are sometimes secondarily grouped according to pitching style, type of pitch most often used, or velocity.

However, there are many different variations on how the pitch is actually delivered, this includes the conventional overhand style as well as the less common 3/4, sidearm, and submarine deliveries.

IN ADDITION, IF A BASEBALL BATTER IS STRUCK WITH A PITCH, HE IS AWARDED FIRST BASE; "HITTING" THE BATTER INCLUDES HITTING LOOSE PARTS OF HIS UNIFORM WITHOUT HITTING HIS BODY (BASEBALL RULES SPECIFY THAT A PLAYER'S PERSON INCLUDES HIS UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT). Pitchers may throw close to the batters, but deliberately hitting one is not common, chiefly because it is punished severely.

If the umpire believes a batter was intentionally hit, the pitcher will be expelled from the game and usually suspended. The suspension is intended not only to protect batters but to avert fighting; being hit by a fastball is taken seriously by batters, and bench-clearing brawls occasionally result when one team decides the other is deliberately throwing at its batters.

In cricket, bowlers consider the right to hit batsmen as part of their armoury; indeed, one of the most common methods of dismissal (leg before wicket) requires the bowler to hit the batsman's body rather than his bat. A fast bowler will punctuate his overs with deliveries intended to bounce up toward the batsman's head, either to induce a poor shot from self-defence, or to intimidate the batsman, making him less likely to play forward to the next few deliveries for fear of injury.

These tactics are an accepted part of cricket partly because batsmen wear helmets and heavy padding, so that being struck by the ball only rarely results in significant injury - though it is nevertheless often painful, sometimes causing concussion. Baseball players wear helmets, but they are smaller than cricketers' and unsecured.

An equivalent ball to striking the batter in baseball would be a beamer, where the ball hits the batman's upper body area without bouncing first. These are extremely rare and usually caused by the ball slipping out of the top of the bowler's hand. The even rarer intentional beamer provokes a pretty strong reaction from batsman and crowd alike.

There is a major difference in the way in which different bowlers or pitchers contribute to a single game. In baseball, a single pitcher starts the game, and makes every pitch until a point where the coach replaces the tiring pitcher with a relief pitcher.

Replaced pitchers cannot return to pitch again in the same game, and a succession of pitchers may come into the game in sequence until it ends. In cricket, multiple bowlers begin the game, with those not actively bowling spending time as fielders.

Bowlers alternate bowling overs of six balls each, moving to fielding positions to rest before returning to bowl again later in the game. Although moving a pitcher to a fielding position and returning him to pitch later in the game is legal in baseball, it almost never happens.