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
Origins of baseball could be put out by being hit with the ball. Just as now, in some versions a batter was called out after three strikes. A number of folk games in early Britain and Continental Europe had characteristics that can be seen in modern baseball (as well as in cricket and rounders). Many of these early games involved a ball that was thrown at a target while an opposing player defended the target by attempting to hit the ball away. If the batter successfully hit the ball, he could attempt to score points by running between bases while fielders would attempt