Start with two teams (nine players each, in the professional game), four bases laid out in a diamond shape, one bat, one ball, mitts (or gloves)—and you’re ready to play baseball. The game is played in alleyways, sports fields and expansive stadiums, and the happiest players do it “for the love of the game.”

Baseball is played with no time restriction. It’s this freedom from the constraint of time that draws many fans to sit in the afternoon sun or evening lights and watch the game. A required amount of turns at offense and defense, or innings, constitute a full game. The team with the most amount of runs (complete trips around the bases) wins.

The sport has long been referred to as “the national pastime” and the national sport of the United States, but baseball has fans in Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, and many other locations across the globe.