This is a glossary of terminology used in Baseball5. Many terms which are used in Baseball5 also appear in baseball (see Glossary of baseball terms).
The batter's box is a square area diagonally adjacent to home plate which the batter must remain in while hitting the ball (the lines are part of the box.) [1] It is drawn by extending the foul lines 3 meters into foul territory. [2]
See outfield fence.
The midfielder is a defender who stands roughly in between first and third base (around the same region that a baseball pitcher would stand in.) [3]
The no-hit zone is an area that incorporates the home plate corner of fair territory which is treated equivalently to foul territory i.e. the batter is out if they hit the ball into the ground in this zone. The zone itself is a triangular area, with two of its lines being coterminous with the foul lines and the third line being drawn between two points, each of which is 4.5 meters (or 3 meters for the U-15 age category) down a foul line from the batter's box. [2]
The outfield fences are the boundary of the field on the edge of the outfield. They are recommended to be 1 meter tall, though there is no requirement to have fences per se as the boundary of the field (i.e. lines can be drawn instead to demarcate the outer boundary of the outfield.) [2]
The safe area is an area next to first base in which the batter is safe from being tagged. It is a 1.5-meter rectangle with the same width as first base, being adjacent to the foul territory-first base, and with its longer sides running in the same direction as the first base-foul line. [2]
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.
In baseball, the strike zone is the area of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike even if the batter does not swing. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate and between the batter's knees and the midpoint of their torso. Whether a pitch passes through the zone is decided by an umpire, who is generally positioned behind the catcher.
Softball is a popular variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and 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.
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 baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that:
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 baseball's history, the rules have frequently changed as the game continues to evolve. A few common rules most professional leagues have in common are that four balls are a base on balls, three strikes are 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.
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 the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a foul ball counts as a strike against the batter, unless there are already two strikes on the batter, with special rules applying to foul tips and foul bunts. Fly balls are those hit in an arcing manner, with pop-ups being a subset of fly balls that do not travel far. Line drives are batted balls hit on a straight line trajectory, while ground balls are hit at a low trajectory, contact the ground shortly after being hit, and then either roll or bounce. Batted balls, especially line drives, can present a hazard to players, umpires, and spectators, as people have been seriously injured or killed after being struck by batted balls.
Pesäpallo is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other places including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada's northern Ontario. It is similar to brännboll, rounders, lapta, and baseball.
In sports, offense or offence, known as attack outside of North America, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals. The term may refer to the tactics involved in offense, or a sub-team whose primary responsibility is offense.
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, or safe haven 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 then 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.
Baseball5 is a simplified variation of baseball and softball which is governed at the international level alongside those sports by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
In sports, the term diamond sports refers to recreational variantsof baseball, a bat-and-ball sport. The most popular and closely related sport to baseball is softball, with the two sports being administered internationally by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), alongside Baseball5.