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A
batter always drops his bat when running the bases—
otherwise, the bat would slow him down and could give rise
to a call of fielder to catch it on its descent. A line drive
is like a fly ball, but the ball is hit with such force that
its trajectory seems level to the ground. A batted ball which
is not hit into the air, and which touches the ground within
the infield before it can be caught, is called a ground ball.
When a ball is hit outside the foul line, it is a foul ball,
requiring the batter and all runners to return to their respective
bases.
Once the batter and any existing
runners have all stopped at a base or been put out, the ball
is returned to the pitcher, and the next batter comes to the
plate. After the opposing team bats in its own order and three
more outs are recorded, the first team's batting order will
continue again from where it left off.
When a runner reaches home plate,
he scores a run and is no longer a base runner. He must leave
the playing area until his spot in the order comes up again.
A runner may only circle the bases once per plate appearance
and thus can score no more than a single run.
Batting
Each plate appearance consists of a series of pitches, in
which the pitcher throws the ball towards home plate while
a batter is standing in the batter's box. With each pitch,
the batter must decide whether to swing the bat at the ball
in an attempt to hit it. The pitches arrive quickly, so the
decision to swing must be made in less than a tenth of a second,
based on whether the ball is hittable and in the strike zone,
a region defined by the area directly above home plate and
between the hollow beneath the batter's knee and the midpoint
between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform
pants. In addition to swinging at the ball, a batter who wishes
to put the ball in play may hold his bat over home plate and
attempt to tap a pitch lightly; this is called a bunt. Good
bunting technique has been described as "catching the
ball with the bat."
On any pitch, if the batter
swings at the ball and misses, he is charged with a strike.
If the batter does not swing, the home plate umpire judges
whether the ball passed through the strike zone. If the ball,
or any part of it, passed through the zone, it is ruled a
strike; otherwise, it is called a ball. The number of balls
and strikes thrown to the current batter is known as the count;
the count is always given balls first (except in Japan, where
it is reversed), then strikes (such as 3-2 or "three
and two", also known as a "full count," which
would be 3 balls and 2 strikes).
If the batter swings and makes
contact with the ball, but does not put it in play in fair
territory—a foul ball—he is charged with an additional
strike, except when there are already two strikes. Thus, a
foul ball with two strikes leaves the count unchanged. If
a pitch is batted foul or fair and a member of the defensive
team is able to catch it, before the ball strikes the ground,
the batter is declared out. In the event that a bat contacts
the ball, but the ball continues sharply and directly to the
catcher's mitt and is caught by the catcher, it is a foul
tip, which is same as an ordinary strike.
On the fourth ball the batter becomes
a runner, and is entitled to advance to first base without
risk of being put out, called a base on balls or a walk .
If a pitch touches the batter, the umpire declares a hit by
pitch and the batter is awarded first base, unless the umpire
determines that the ball was in the strike zone when it hit
the batter, or that the batter did not attempt to avoid being
hit. In practice, neither exception is ever called unless
the batter obviously tries to get hit by the pitch; even standing
still in the box will virtually always be overlooked, and
the batter awarded first. If the catcher's mitt, catcher's
mask, or any part of the catcher comes in contact with the
batter and/or the batter's bat as the batter is attempting
to hit a pitch, the batter is awarded first base, ruled "catcher's
interference."
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