Variations of baseball

rdf:langString Variations of baseball

rdf:langString Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport that has many recreational variants (sometimes referred to as diamond sports). The major sport most related to baseball is the Olympic discipline of softball, with the two sports being administered internationally alongside Baseball5 (invented in 2018) by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Many variations of baseball change the game significantly. For example, many variations are played informally, with less equipment/space requirements and a softer ball, and certain variations do not feature a pitcher, and/or have the batters hit the ball using their hands or feet, with failure to legally hit the ball on the first opportunity resulting in an automatic out. There may be a lack of baserunning, with base hits awarded according to the distance or number of bounces the batted ball takes before being fielded, and imaginary "ghost runners" advancing around the bases in lieu of actual runners. Other variations are even more loosely based on baseball, often involving the same scoring system applied to dramatically different contexts, such as playing darts. There are also some bat-and-ball sports which are distinct from baseball, such as rounders, that strongly resemble it.