The first thing math can be used for is finding measurements of bases. In Major League Baseball, each 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base is a square measuring 15 inches in width and length. The area of these three bases could be found by doing the formula width x length which equals 225 inches sqrd. The height of these bases is 5 inches. Using the volume formula height x width x length, you can find that the volume of these bases is 1125 inches cubed.
The home plate is the shape of a pentagon. The longest side of the plate is 17 inches long, and the 2 sides perpendicular to that side are 8 1/2 inches long. The two sides forming a point are 12 inches long. The perimeter can be determined by adding all of the sides together, which end up equaling 58 inches. The area of the home plate can be determined by finding the area of the triangular section, then finding the area of the rectangular section and adding those two areas together.
As you can see, geometry plays a large role in the configuration of baseball fields. Each length from base to base, and every other directions has a certain amount of feet and angles. For homerun scoring purposes, each Major League Baseball field must have a minimum distance of 325 feet from home plate to the fences in left and right field and 400 feet to center. A baseball field's primary boundaries are the foul lines, which extend forward from home plate at a 45 degree angles. The 90 degree area within the foul lines is referred to as fair territory and the 270-degree area outside them is foul territory.
In baseball, there is also something called ERA which stands for Earned Run Average. It is the earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings. The ERA tells the average number of runs a pitcher would give up over the course of the full game if he had been kept in. The formula for determining this is 9 x (Earned runs allowed/Innings pitched). The lower the average is, the better.
Then you also have a player's batting average. higher the number, the better. The formula to find this out is hits/at bats. A random theory has been proposed by biologist and baseball fan Stephen Jay Gould since there has not been a .400 batter since 1941. He believes that it is not because of a decline in baseball skill, but an improvement in skill. He suggests that people stop looking at a batter's average and focus on the statistical distribution of the batting average of hitters. Statistical distribution is a probability theory that identifies the probability of a random variable. The statistical distribution gives you a range of possible values.
There is also On-Base Percentage. It measures a batter's ability to get on base. It is calculated by taking the sum of the batter's successes in getting on base (hits plus walks plus hit by pitches) and dividing that by the batter's total plate appearances (at bats plus walks plus hit by pitches plus sacrifice flies), except for sacrifice bunts.
Lastly, Slugging Percentage measures a batter's ability to hit for power. It is calculated by taking the batter's total bases (one per each single, two per double, three per triple, and four per home run) and dividing that by the batter's at bats.
Probability can also be used when determining a player's likely to hit a run, or even homerun. You can use his homeruns(or hits) and divide it by his at bats in the season to determine the probability that he will hit the ball or score a homerun.
Pictured above is a diagram of what is known as the "strike zone" in baseball. It is a three dimensional right angle pentagonal prism over home plate which defines the boundaries in which a pitch must pass through in order to count as a strike.
A baseball is in the shape of a sphere(obviously). It is about the size of an adult fist and is around 9 inches in circumference.
The bat is about 2.5 inches in diameter at the hitting end,and narrows down around the holding end. Bats used by adults are generally around 34 inches long and not longer than 42 inches.
