Baseline (baseball)
A baseball field is a playing field used for baseball.
The starting point for much of the action on the field is home plate, which is a white rubber pentagon seventeen inches wide. Next to each of the two parallel sides is a batter's box. The point of the pentagon is at one corner of a ninety-foot square. The other three corners of the square, in counterclockwise order from home plate, are called first base, second base, and third base. Three canvas bags twelve inches (305 mm) square mark the three bases.
The lines from home plate to first and third bases are extended infinitely and are called the foul lines. The quarter of the universe between the foul lines is fair territory; the other three-quarters of the universe is foul territory. The area in the vicinity of the square formed by the bases is called the infield; fair territory outside the infield is the outfield. Most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is usually set at a distance ranging from 300 to 400 feet (90 to 120 m) from home plate.
In the middle of the square is a low mound called the pitcher's mound. There is a rubber plate, called the pitcher's rubber, six inches (152 mm) wide and two feet (610 mm) long, on the mound, exactly sixty feet six inches (18.4 m) from home plate. This distance is due to a clerical error. When it was decided that the distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound should be increased from 50 feet to 60 feet (15.2 to 18.3 m) from the point of home plate, the builders read the last 0 as a 6.
A baseline is the direct route—a stright line— between two adjacent bases. The basepath is the region within three feet (0.9 meters) of the baseline.
