Infield it includes that area where the all-important duel between the pitcher and batter takes place. The pitcher stands on the pitcher's mound (a raised mound of dirt located at the center of the infield) and from there he pitches the ball to his catcher, who is crouched behind home plate sixty feet, six inches away at what might be called the cutlet of the diamond-shaped baseball field. To the left and right of the catcher are chalk boxes in the dirt called batter's boxes. The opposing team's batter must stand in one of the two boxes and from there he
History of baseball in the United States put new balls into play whenever the current ball became scuffed or discolored. This rule change was enforced all the more stringently following the death of Ray Chapman, who was struck in the temple by a pitched ball from Carl Mays in a game on August 16, 1920 (he died the next day). Discolored balls, harder for batters to see and therefore harder for batters to dodge, have been rigorously removed from play ever since. There are two side effects. One, of course, is that if the batter can see the ball more easily, the batter can hit the ball