Baseball rules the winner. This is known as a walk-off. The basic contest is always between the "pitcher" for the fielding team, and a "batter". The pitcher throws—"pitches"—the ball towards home plate, where the "catcher" for the fielding team waits (in a crouched stance) to receive it. Behind the catcher stands the home plate umpire. The batter stands in one of the batter's boxes and tries to hit the ball with a bat. The pitcher must keep one foot in contact with the top or front of the pitcher's rubber — a 24×6 in (61×15 cm) plate located atop the pitcher's mound
Dead-ball era pitches with no strikes counted against him—except for bunt attempts. This gave the batter an enormous advantage. In 1901, the National League adopted the foul strike rule, and the American League followed suit in 1903. Before 1921, it was common for a baseball to be in play for over 100 pitches. Players used the same ball until it started to unravel. Early baseball leagues were very cost-conscious, so fans had to throw back balls that had been hit into the stands. The longer the ball was in play, the softer it became—and hitting a heavily used, softer ball for distance