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In baseball, when the ball is alive (or in play), the game can proceed. The pitcher may pitch the ball, the batter may attempt to hit such a pitch, baserunners may attempt to advance at their own risk, and the defense may attempt to put the batter or baserunners out.
The ball becomes live when the pitcher is on the pitcher's plate ready to pitch; the batter, catcher, and the umpire are all ready; and the umpire calls or signals "Play".
The ball remains alive until it becomes dead by a number of different occurrences. Thus, the ball often remains alive even after playing action ends. Technically, the ball remains alive between half-innings, though no action can occur after the end of a half-inning until the first pitch of the next half-inning.
Participants must always be alert and attentive when the ball is alive; vigilance can be relaxed when the ball is dead. Thus it is important for players to always know whether the ball is alive. One infamous incident occurred in Game 2 of the 1998 American League Championship Series, which featured the New York Yankees against the Cleveland Indians. With Enrique Wilson on first base and no outs, the Indians' Travis Fryman laid down a bunt that first baseman Tino Martinez fielded inside the line. Martinez's throw to Chuck Knoblauch, covering first base, hit Fryman in the back and caromed 20 feet away.
Instead of chasing down the ball, Knoblauch ignored it to argue with umpire Ted Hendry, claiming interference by Fryman. During the debate, Wilson rounded the bases to score the go-ahead run.
Knoblauch later confessed that he saw the play as a "no-brainer" interference call, and he likely assumed that the ball would become dead. However, this interference call was the very call in dispute, and the umpire saw it differently. The Yankees thus lost that game, but still went on to win the series.
In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an error or a passed ball committed by the defense.
A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls, and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08(a). It is, however, considered a faux pas for a professional player to actually walk to first base; the batter-runner and any advancing runners normally jog on such a play.
In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided that he made an honest effort to avoid the pitch, although failure to do so is rarely called by an umpire. Being hit by a pitch is often caused by a batter standing too close to, or "crowding", home plate.
In baseball or softball, a strikeout occurs when a batter racks up three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denoted by K. A "strikeout looking"—in which the batter does not swing and the third strike is called by the umpire—is usually denoted by a ꓘ.
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 or the players from their respective positions of significance. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite routine, and often occurs between individual plays of the game.
In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out for one of the reasons given below. When three outs are recorded in an inning, a team's half of the inning, ends.
The rules of baseball differ slightly from league to league, but in general share the same basic game play.
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.
The 1991 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1991 season. The 88th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Minnesota Twins (95–67) and the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves (94–68). The Twins defeated the Braves four games to three to win the championship. In 2003, ESPN selected it as the "Greatest of All Time" in their "World Series 100th Anniversary" countdown, with five of its games being decided by a single run, four games decided in the final at-bat and three games going into extra innings.
In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base.
The 1998 American League Championship Series (ALCS), the second round of the 1998 American League playoffs, was played between the East Division champion New York Yankees and the Central Division champion Cleveland Indians.
In baseball, the fourth out is a legal out made by the defense after three outs in a half-inning already have 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. 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.
On Sunday, July 18, 1999, David Cone of the New York Yankees pitched the 16th perfect game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history and the third in team history, and the first no-hit game in regular season interleague play. Pitching against the Montreal Expos at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx in front of 41,930 fans in attendance, Cone retired all 27 batters that he faced. The game took 2 hours and 16 minutes, from 2:05 PM ET to 4:54 PM ET. The game was interrupted by a 33-minute rain delay in the bottom of the third inning in the middle of an at-bat for Tino Martinez. As part of the day's "Yogi Berra Day" festivities honoring the Yankees' former catcher, before the game, former Yankees pitcher Don Larsen threw the ceremonial first pitch to Berra; the two comprised the battery for Larsen's perfect game in 1956.