After Dakar, a guide to understanding Baseball5
· BehindLines newsroom
The first Baseball5 tournament at the Youth Olympic Games (Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse) ended with Cuba winning gold in Dakar. In its report dated 3 November, the International Olympic Committee (Comité international olympique) describes a final won against Chinese Taipei in two sets, 2-1 and then 7-1. The result belongs to a completed competition: its programme ran from 30 October to 3 November at the Tour de l’Œuf complex.
Its arrival on the Youth Games programme offers a way to discover a sport that keeps running between bases while changing how play begins. The French baseball and softball federation (Fédération française de baseball et softball) explains that the attacking player puts the ball into play by striking it with a hand. There is no pitcher, bat or glove in this version of the game.
Five players and a mixed team
Each team fields five people. At major international events, at least two female and two male players must remain among those on the field. Mixed participation therefore directly affects the team used during play.
An attacker scores by completing the circuit of bases and returning to the starting point without being put out. The defence tries to stop that progress. Three outs make the teams exchange roles. Those basic points help explain why recovering the ball and making a quick pass can change the course of a play.
Reading two levels of scoring
The federation’s guide describes a basic format of five innings, while noting that some competitions use several sets. In Dakar, 2-1 and 7-1 were the scores of the two sets in the final; they were not two separate finals.
For someone discovering the discipline, watching movement, passes and the occupation of bases together therefore reveals more than following the ball’s flight alone.