Lose the Confusion with these Easy to Understand Baseball Rules
Have you ever watched a Major League Baseball game and wondered exactly what is going on? You probably have the basics down and for the most part, you’ve got it. Sometimes players dart off to do things that are not clearly explained by commentators. Those guys may have been around baseball for the past forty years, but some are new to the sport and need a little explanation.
There is nothing like sitting in the stands of a stadium on a sunny clear day taking in a baseball game. The only thing that can improve the situation is that you know what is going on. If you are faking your way through the game, pretending like you know why everyone is cheering, read on.
The rulebook for Major League Baseball is lengthy and complicated. There are a number of rules that could keep you guessing. Baseball, for the most part, is a simple game. Balls and bats. Plates and dugouts. But there are a few rules that can leave the unknowledgeable fan totally confused. It is time to make sense of the ballet that is baseball.
Occasionally, you may hear a commentator say that a pitcher has gotten credit for a save. To earn a save, a pitcher has to complete a game he did not begin and he can’t be the winning pitcher. That means that one of a number of things has happened. The pitcher came into a game that his team was already winning and the possible tying run is on base, at bat or on deck. The pitcher that came in to relief the other one, gets a save if the bases were loaded at the time he came into the game and his team doesn’t have more than a 5 run lead.
A suicide squeeze is a move some teams try to pull off occasionally if there is a runner on third base and less than two outs. The guy on third base will attempt to squeeze, or sneak to home as soon as the pitcher releases the ball. The batter goes for a bunt and the runner on third base immediately takes off. A fair bunted ball usually allows the runner to score. A missed ball typically means the runner will be tagged.
A balk is any of a number of moves committed by the pitcher that throws a base runner off. A few of the more common balks are pretending to throw to first base, fakes pitching motion by beginning and abruptly stopping, pretends to throw to first base while remaining on the pitching rubber or lets go of the ball while standing on the rubber.
A grand slam is one of the most exciting events in baseball. The man at bat hits a home run with players at first, second and third base. This is perhaps one of the easier ones to understand. If your team pulls of one off these, you won’t be able to miss it.
A perfect game is a pitcher’s dream. In a perfect game the pitcher keeps the opposing team from ever hitting the ball. No one ever reaches the base. This is not the same as a no-hitter. A no-hitter is a game in which a pitcher does not allow the opposing team a base hit. A no-hitter does not guarantee a win, though. There have been no-hitters that were lost. It both cases it does not matter if the original pitcher finishes the game.
The infield fly rule goes like this. A batter hits a pop-up to the infield. If there are runners on all base, or just first and second and the team has less than two outs, an infielder can let go of the ball on purpose and turn a double or triple play and end the offensive team’s inning. The umpire is responsible for deciding if the pop-up could have been caught by an infielder. If the ump this that the infielder could have had the ball without extreme effort, he can bring up the infield fly rule. The runners on the bases can take a chance and the batter is out. These are just a few of the less understood rules of baseball.
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