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.
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the 37-foot-2-inch-high (11.33 m) left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is 310 feet (94 m) from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters.
In baseball, the dugout is a team's bench and is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or third base. There are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team. In general, the dugout is occupied by all players not prescribed to be on the field at that particular time, as well as coaches and other personnel authorized by the league. The players' equipment is usually stored in the dugout.
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.
Guaranteed Rate Field, formerly Comiskey Park and U.S. Cellular Field, is a baseball stadium located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two MLB teams, and is owned by the state of Illinois through the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Completed at a cost of US$137 million, the park opened as Comiskey Park on April 18, 1991, taking its name from the former ballpark at which the White Sox had played since 1910.
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:
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.
The Jeffrey Maier incident was an incident during Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. Twelve-year-old Jeffrey Maier deflected a batted ball, hit by Derek Jeter, into the Yankee Stadium stands for what umpires ruled to be a home run, rather than fan interference. His interference altered the course of Game 1, as the resulting home run allowed the Yankees to tie the score. They emerged victorious from the game and won the series four games to one en route to winning the World Series.
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, 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 rare cases, baseball games are forfeited, usually when a team is no longer able to play. Although not uncommon in baseball's early days, forfeits are now rare. There have been only five forfeits in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1954; the last forfeit was in 1995, and prior to that, 1979. Since 1914, there has only been one incident where a team deliberately made a decision to forfeit a game, by the 1977 Baltimore Orioles.
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.
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 commonly called a ground rule double.
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part based on the placement of bases, and the outfield is where dimensions can vary widely from ballpark to ballpark. A larger ballpark may also be called a baseball stadium because it shares characteristics of other stadiums.
In baseball, a fourth out is a legal out made by the defense after three outs in a half-inning have already been made. According to the rules, the third out does not cause the ball to become dead; if the fielders make a subsequent out that prevents a run from scoring, this out will supersede the apparent third out, thus becoming the recorded third out. The defense successfully makes an appeal while the ball is still live, and the umpire calls a temporary fourth out that (usually) replaces the existing third out. For statistical purposes, the apparent third out is "undone" and the fourth out's result is recorded instead. With the advent of video replay appeals, a new rationale for making extra out(s) has emerged: insurance against a prior out being undone on appeal. These fourth-out situations are not the same as four strikeouts in an inning.
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.
Major League Baseball (MLB) uses instant replay review to allow league officials to review certain types of plays in order to determine the accuracy of the initial call of the umpires on the field. Reviews may be initiated either by a team's manager with limitations or by the umpires themselves. All instant replay reviews are examined by umpires at the Replay Command Center in New York City, who have the final decision as to whether to uphold or overturn the initial call.
The Pine Tar Incident was a controversial incident in 1983 during an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Sunday, July 24, 1983.
