Dead ball is a term in many ball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite routine, or more uncommon.
In gridiron football, a dead ball is a condition that occurs between plays. Due to rule differences between leagues, the specific conditions which trigger a dead ball vary slightly, however in general a dead ball typically occurs after any of the following events:
Depending on the league, there may be additional situations which trigger a dead ball. For example, in the CFL, the ball becomes dead if it makes contact with an official, while under NCAA rules, it does not. [3] [2]
During the time in which the ball is dead, the offensive team may not attempt to advance it. The ball remains dead until it is snapped to begin the next play. The clock may or may not be stopped during this time, depending on the specific conditions triggering the dead ball.
Various rule changes over time have altered when a ball may become dead. For example, in the NFL, the ball used to become dead if it came into the possession of the defense for any reason during a try after a touchdown. This rule was changed before the 2015 season, allowing the ball to remain live so that the defense could attempt to return it for a defensive two-point conversion.
In baseball, when the ball is dead, no runners may advance beyond the respective bases they are entitled to, and no runners may be put out. The ball becomes dead when: [4]
In general, the ball does not automatically become dead after playing action ends. So, for example, although the recording of a third out generally winds down a half inning, the ball is not automatically dead. If it is to the advantage of the defense to attempt to record a fourth out for any reason, the ball is live and such a play is permitted.
After a dead ball, the ball becomes alive again when the pitcher stands on the pitcher's plate ready to pitch, the batter, catcher and umpire are ready, and the umpire calls or signals "Play."
Players and coaches may ask an umpire for "time," but they themselves may not call "time" and cause the ball to become dead. Nevertheless, "time" is usually granted by the umpire when asked, and thus, colloquially, it is often said that players or coaches indeed can "call time." Unlike sports which have clocks to time the play, the phrase "time out" is not used in baseball. Likewise, there is no limit to the number of times a team can "call time."
In baseball, the term "dead ball" is also used in the context of the dead-ball era, a phase during the early history of the game in the early 1900s. In this context, the ball was not actually "dead" but for various reasons tended to be difficult to hit for distance, resulting in low scores and few home runs by modern standards.
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In cricket, a dead ball is a particular state of play in which the players may not perform any of the active aspects of the game, [8] meaning batters may not score runs and fielders may not attempt to get batters out.
"The words 'dead ball' were first used in the laws in 1798", in relation to a new law imposing a penalty of five runs if the fielder stopped the ball with his hat. "Before 1798 the words 'dead ball' were not used but the meaning was implicit in some of the other laws of the day." [9]
The ball, referring to the cricket ball, becomes live when the bowler begins their run up in preparation to bowl at the batter. In the live state, play occurs with the batters able to score runs and get out.
The ball becomes dead when any of the following situations occur:
Umpires may also call dead ball at their discretion, in the case of a series for events for which there is no provision in either the Laws of Cricket or agreements made prior to the match. This happened on 9 October 2005, when Australian batter Michael Hussey hit the retracted roof at the Telstra Dome. What would have been six in an open stadium was ruled a dead ball, and no runs were awarded.
Note that the ball becomes dead as soon as a batter is out, so it is not possible to dismiss the other batter immediately. Thus the baseball concept of a double play cannot occur in cricket.
If necessary to make it clear to the players and scorers that the umpire considers the ball to be dead, the umpire signals dead ball by crossing and uncrossing his arms in front of his body.
In association football (soccer), the term "dead ball" refers to a situation when the ball is not in play, e.g. when play has not been restarted after the ball has gone out of bounds or a foul has been committed. It also applies before each kick-off, either at the start of each half or after a goal has been scored. In a dead ball situation, players can position the ball with their hands prior to restarting play. Furthermore, even though the ball is not in play, the referee may still issue cautions or ejections (yellow or red cards) for any incident that occurs off the ball. Fouls, on the other hand, can occur only while the ball is in play.
In basketball, most or any time play is stopped the ball is considered dead, such as when a foul has been committed and called by a referee, a foul shot has been attempted and another one is yet to be attempted, or the ball has gone out of bounds. Player substitutions may then be made. Section IV of the NBA rule book contains the official definition of a dead ball. [11] [12] [13]
A dead ball is declared in the game of pickleball when any of the following occur; one of the players commits a fault, the ball hits a permanent object, or a hinder is declared. When a player commits a fault, the other side wins the point. If the ball strikes a permanent object, such as the net post, a referee, or fence, the ball is declared dead, but the point is awarded based on whether or not the ball bounced on the opposing side before hitting the permanent object. If the ball does not bounce on the opposing side's court before hitting the permanent object, the opposing side wins the point. If the ball bounces on the opposing side's court prior to hitting the permanent object, the side that last hit the ball wins the point. If a hindrance results in a dead ball, such as when a person, errant ball or other object enters the court, the serve is restarted with no penalty to either side. [14]
Each end of a rugby league field has a dead ball line; when the ball (or player in possession) crosses or touches this line, the ball is said to have gone dead. This results in a goal line drop out if the defending team had caused the ball to go dead; otherwise, a 20-metre restart ensues.
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate.
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without the ball touching the field.
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field, with only underhand pitches permitted. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hancock.
The infield fly rule is a rule of baseball and softball that treats certain fly balls as though caught, before the ball is caught, even if the infielder fails to catch it or drops it on purpose. The umpire's declaration of an infield fly means that the batter is out regardless of whether the ball is caught. The rule exists solely to prevent the defense from executing a double play or triple play by deliberately failing to catch a ball that an infielder could catch with ordinary effort.
In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that:
In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:
In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a half-inning, the batting team's turn expires.
Throughout the history of baseball, the rules have frequently changed as the game continues to evolve. A few common rules most professional leagues have in common is that four balls is a base on balls, three strikes is a strikeout, and three outs end a half-inning.
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers to less organized venues for activities like sandlot ball.
In baseball, an appeal play occurs when a member of the defensive team calls the attention of an umpire to an infraction which he would otherwise ignore.
Baseball and cricket are the best-known members of a family of related bat-and-ball games. Both have fields that are 400 feet (120 m) or more in diameter between their furthest endpoints, offensive players who can hit a thrown/"bowled" ball out of the field and run between safe areas to score runs (points) at the risk of being gotten out, and have a major game format lasting about 3 hours.
In baseball, interference occurs in situations in which a person illegally changes the course of play from what is expected. Interference might be committed by players on the offense, players not currently in the game, catchers, umpires, or spectators. Each type of interference is covered differently by the rules.
In baseball, the rules state that a batted ball is considered in flight when it has not yet touched any object other than a fielder or his equipment. Such a ball can be caught by a fielder to put the batter out.
A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a condition of the ground rules in effect at the field where the game is being played. An automatic double is the term used to refer to a fairly hit ball leaving the field in circumstances that do not merit a home run, such as when the ball's first bounce was within the field. The automatic double is quite often mistakenly called a ground rule double.
In baseball, a catch occurs when a fielder gains secure possession of a batted ball before it bounces, and maintains possession until they voluntarily or intentionally release the ball. When a catch occurs, the batter is out, and runners are in jeopardy of being put out if any fielder with possession of the ball reaches their starting base before they do.
The Knickerbocker Rules are a set of baseball rules formalized by William R. Wheaton and William H. Tucker of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845. They have previously been considered to be the basis for the rules of the modern game, although this is disputed. The rules are informally known as the "New York style" of baseball, as opposed to other variants such as the "Massachusetts Game" and "Philadelphia town ball".
Ground rules are rules applying to the field, objects on and near it, and special situations relating to them, in the game of baseball. Major League Baseball has defined a set of "universal ground rules" that apply to all MLB ballparks; individual ballparks have the latitude to set ground rules above and beyond the universal ground rules, as long as they do not directly contradict each other. Additionally, a set of universal ground rules exists for the six MLB stadiums with retractable roofs, with the individual ballparks able to set additional rules.
Bat-and-ball games are field games played by two opposing teams. Action starts when the defending team throws a ball at a dedicated player of the attacking team, who tries to hit it with a bat and run between various safe areas in the field to score runs (points). The defending team can use the ball in various ways against the attacking team's players to force them off the field when they are not in safe zones, and thus prevent them from further scoring. The best known modern bat-and-ball games are cricket and baseball, with common roots in the 18th-century games played in England.
This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries.
In sports, out of bounds refers to being outside the playing boundaries of the field. The legality of going out of bounds, and the ease of prevention, vary by sport. Sports that use this term include American football, Canadian football, field lacrosse, basketball, rugby union, rugby league, and association football.
