Barcelona, 5 Aug 1992. CUB-TPE 11-1 final. Credit: Getty Images/Bob Martin

Baseball's stature in the history of the United States is perhaps reflected more clearly in a simple dictionary rather than in the seven-centimetre-thick baseball encyclopaedia.

There, you can find the word Ruthian, meaning "of mammoth proportions", as in a home run by Babe Ruth back in the 1920s. There, you can find Lou Gehrig's disease, as the incurable degenerative illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has been better known since Lou Gehrig, Ruth's team-mate, died from it in the 1940s. In the United States, baseball and the English language are interwoven.

However, just as the game did not begin as a wholly US enterprise, it did not end the 20th century as one either. Baseball's all-time home-run champion is a man named Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 during a legendary career in baseball-mad Japan. The national team of Cuba overpowered the Baltimore Orioles of the US major leagues 12-6 in a 1999 exhibition game.

American baseball became a full medal sport in Barcelona in 1992.

Discipline's origin

Baseball is a sport which was primarily developed in the United States in the early 19th century. Legend has it that the sport was invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York, but that legend has been largely discredited, and Doubleday should instead be recognised for being an American Civil War hero. The sport is based on several earlier British sports, such as rounders and cricket, which were popular in the 17th and 18th century. After its early development in the United States, professional teams and leagues were later formed, especially the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in 1871, the first formal professionalorganisation. Five years later, in 1876, this organisation was replaced by the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs.

Baseball later spread to many nations, notably Japan, Australia, and also to many Latin American countries, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Cuba's first professional league was formed in 1878, only two years after the National League in the United States. Many Latin Americans have played in the American Major Leagues.

Playing field

The field shall be laid out according to the instructions below, supplemented by Diagrams No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.

The infield shall be a 90 foot square. The outfield shall be the area between two foul lines formed by extending two sides of the square, as in Diagram 1. The distance from home base to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction on fair territory shall be 250 feet or more. A distance of 320 feet or more along the foul lines, and 400 feet or more to center field is preferable. The infield shall be graded so that the base lines and home plate are level. The pitcher's plate shall be 10 inches above the level of home plate. The degree of slope from a point 6 inches in front of the pitcher's plate to a point 6 feet toward home plate shall be 1 inch to 1 foot, and such degree of slope shall be uniform. The infield and outfield, including the boundary lines, are fair territory and all other area is foul territory.

It is desirable that the line from home base through the pitchers plate to second base shall run East Northeast.

It is recommended that the distance from home base to the backstop, and from the base lines to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction on foul territory shall be 60 feet or more. See Diagram 1.

When location of home base is determined, with a steel tape measure 127 feet, 3 3/8 inches in desired direction to establish second base. From home base, measure 90 feet toward first base; from second base, measure 90 feet toward first base; the intersection of these lines establishes first base. From home base, measure 90 feet toward third base; from second base, measure 90 feet toward third base; the intersection of these lines establishes third base. The distance between first base and third base is 127 feet, 3 3/8 inches. All measurements from home base shall be taken from the point where the first and third base lines intersect.

The catcher's box, the batters' boxes, the coaches' boxes, the three foot first base lines and the next batter's boxes shall be laid out as shown in Diagrams 1 and 2.

The foul lines and all other playing lines indicated in the diagrams by solid black lines shall be marked with wet, unslaked lime, chalk or other white material.

The grass lines and dimensions shown on the diagrams ar