Do you know how many baseball field components are there and what is baseball home plate? If not, then this article is specifically for you.
Throughout the article, you will learn about the different field equipment and their purpose of existence on the field, including baseball home plate. Remember that in a professional game, when either of these components is missing, the game will not be played since they are must-haves; however, if you are playing with friends, then it is acceptable not having all of these components.
SO WHAT IS BASEBALL HOME PLATE AND ITS DIMENSIONS
Before going into the details of all baseball field components, first, I want to share knowledge about the home plate. Since it is undoubtedly one of the essential components of the field, much attention is paid to it while setting it up in the bottom-most corner of every diamond shape field.
Baseball home plate has five sides and is covered with white rubber; moreover, this is where batters stand to face the pitchers and where the runner needs to reach safely to score. The most exciting thing about rubber home plate is that it is levelled with the ground rather than cemented above it.
Below is the list of baseball field components, except home plate, with a brief introduction to only the most essential components.
- Pitcher mound
- Infield
- Outfield
- The bases
- Boxes
- Benches
- Dugout circle
- Batting cage
- Running cage
- No man’s land
- Grandstand, bleacher seats
- Batter’s eye
- Bullpen
- Foul line and poles
- Pitcher’s Mound
This is the area from where a pitcher throws the ball towards the batter and is placed right in front of the baseball home plate. This is also called pitcher’s rubber and is slope shaped, similar to a small hill that why it is called a “mound.” The height of the mound is directly proportional to the distance between bases, i.e., the pitcher’s mound goes down as the distance between bases decreases. Furthermore, the pitcher’s rubber dimensions are 24 inches, and it is placed 60 feet away from the home plate in the case the field is 90 feet.
- Infield and Outfield
The area containing the home plate, pitcher’s mound, and the three bases are called the infield of the baseball field, and the players in the infield are called infielders. On the other hand, the whole playing area other than the infield is called the outfield and players in this part of the field are called outfielders.
- Bases
Three bases on every baseball field are part of the infield. These bases are called first base, second base, and third base, and in order to score runs, batters need to touch each of the bases properly and return to baseball home plate.
- Boxes
There are three boxes on a baseball field called batter’s box, pitcher’s box, and coach’s box. For batters, there are two boxes on each side of the home plate, designed for them to stand there while waiting for their turn or at-bat.
The place where the catcher squats to catch the throw of their team’s pitcher is located behind the home plate; moreover, its dimensions include 3.7 feet in width with a length of eight feet.
Finally, the coaches’ boxes are located near the first and third bases, where offensive team coaches are present while their team is hitting. They also advise players to stay on the base to move to the next one.
- No man’s land
This is the area between the pitcher’s mound and baseball home plate where no players are available during a match. In other words, it’s the area between the outfielders and infielders and the balls batted in this area are usually hit, and batters can choose to run to make a score if they want.
- Batter’s eye
The place right behind the centre field that provides a background to the batter is the batter’s eye because he can clear the pitches ball. Moreover, there are foul lines as well that decide whether the hit was fair or foul. All the straight white chalk lines on the field decide if the hit was foul or not.