Use of English PRO

Baseball (0) IS America's national sport. But,  (1) ............ it originated in the USA, baseball is played in many other countries, especially in Central and South America and Japan. Baseball became an Olympic sport at the 1992 Olympics. Baseball is not only a sport but an American (2) ............ of life. Many families spend summer afternoons (3) ............ their children at a baseball park, sitting in the stands with popcorn and hot dogs. They cheer for their favourite team and wear their baseball caps. The game  is played with a long wooden bat and a small hard ball. The players have large heavy gloves to (4) ............ the ball. They usually wear light shirts and knee-long trousers. Shoes have spikes on them to help players run on the field. A baseball field is divided (5) ............ two parts. The infield has the shape of a diamond and is bordered by the bases that runners run around. A few players stand in the grassy outfield and wait to catch the ball (6) ............ letting it drop on the ground. A baseball game consists of nine parts, called innings. Teams take turns trying to score runs and defend. A pitcher throws the ball towards a batter (7) ............ tries to hit it so that the other team can't catch it. The batter tries to run around the bases as quickly as possible. A ball that is hit into the stands is called a home run. The team that scores the most runs after nine innings (8) ............ the game.