batsman by a catch in a close fielding position is higher. Importance of runs in both sports: Baseball games have far lower scores than cricket matches. The largest combined runs total in a single game in the history of Major League Baseball is 49, whereas first-class cricket matches, including Tests, have produced combined totals from all four innings of over 1000 runs. For a more direct comparison, matches in Twenty20 cricket, a form of limited overs cricket in which games last about the same time as a regulation baseball game, frequently produce combined run totals of 300 or more, with the all-time record being 489. Each run in a baseball game is roughly 75 times as important as a run in a Test cricket match (or 10–20 times the value of a cricketer scoring 4 or 6 runs off a single ball); therefore moments of poor pitching and individual fielding mistakes are much more costly. A baseball player who is a great hitter will start games regularly regardless of how good his fielding is, but a player who is merely an above average hitter, but who is not a competent fielder, may not play regularly, or may be used only in the designated hitter position in leagues that use it. Baseball players often need to throw immediately after catching a struck or thrown ball (for example, the double play), while this is unnecessary in cricket as the ball is deemed "dead" when a dismissal takes place (An exception occurs when there is a free hit ball: catches do not get batsmen out in these scenarios, so fielders may have to attempt run outs after catching the ball). Hence, fielders in cricket have a greater incentive to dive and take a catch due to the fact that a run out is generally much harder to achieve in comparison to baseballers throwing runners out. Left-handers and right-handers in fielding: The configuration of the baseball diamond effectively bars left-handers from the fielding positions that make throwing to first base a primary responsibility. Right-handers can throw to their left – i.e., toward first base – with much greater ease than can left-handers. So in practical terms, all second basemen, shortstops, and third basemen are right-handed. Left-handed catchers are also exceedingly rare; while the reasons appear to be primarily cultural, handling bunts up the third-base line and throws on plays at home pose particular obstacles