The Game of Baseball Baseball, competitive game of skill played with a hard ball and a bat between two teams of nine players each. Baseball is often called the national pastime of the United States, because of its strong tradition and great popularity. It is played throughout the world by people of all ages. In a baseball game, one team is designated the home team and the other is the visiting team. The visiting team always bats first, or at the top of the inning, while the home team takes the field. When a team is at bat it is playing offense- that is, trying to score runs. Teams score runs after their players get on first base,