Baseball rules
The baseball rules determine the course of a baseball game.
history
The rules of the modern game of baseball can be traced back to a set of rules written by Alexander Cartwright. He had it printed in New York, under the title
- RULES & REGULATIONS OF THE Recently Invented Game OF BASE BALL AS ADOPTED BY the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club on September 23, 1845
These rules are known as the Knickerbocker Rules . It is not yet a complete set of rules for all game situations, but a mixture of club statutes and a clarification of frequent doubtful cases, which requires the reader to be familiar with the game. Some of the twenty rules are still in force today.
matchfield
The playing field consists of two parts and is usually surrounded by a fence. The so-called Fair Territory (shown in brown and green in the adjacent drawing) usually has the shape of a quarter circle, the straight edges of which, as foulines, are between 90 and 120 meters long. The area outside the foulines is called foul territory (blue in the drawing).
Most of the actions take place in the infield (brown in the drawing), a square at the top of the 90-foot quadrant, the corners of which are marked by the three bases and the home base . The home base is the innermost tip of the total playing field, the first base is on the right sideline, the second inside the total playing field, and the third on the left touchline. The bases are square, white, relatively flat rubber cushions that are anchored in the floor. The home plate is a white, pentagonal hard rubber plate in the shape of a "St. Nicholas House", the "roof top" of which is in the inner ceiling of the playing field. The rest of the Fair Territory is called the Outfield (shown in green in the drawing).
In the middle of the infield is the Pitcher's Mound , an approx. 25 cm high mound with a rectangular rubber plate , the Pitcher's Plate , on it. From this rubber, the pitcher must throw the balls past the opposing batter , 18 m away , to his catcher . The batter stands to the right or left of the home base and faces it, the catcher crouches exactly behind the home base with his face towards the pitcher.
In baseball, the rules and regulations do not precisely define the dimensions of the area, such as the length of the foulines or the height of the fence. Therefore both teams agree with the referees before the start of the game about the ground rules , which take into account the local conditions (see below also Fair Ball, Foul Ball or Dead Ball ).
Teams
Baseball is played between two teams of nine players each (but see Designated Hitter ). While one team has the right to hit (batting team or offense), the other is in the field (field team or defense) in the nine usual positions: pitcher , catcher , four infielder ( 1st baseman, 2nd baseman, shortstop between the 2nd and 3rd Base, and 3rd Baseman ) and three outfielders ( Left Fielder, Center Fielder, Right Fielder ). From the offense there is initially only one player, the respective batter (batsman), in the field. The others move up as another batter as soon as the batsman is either out or becomes a runner .
Only the respective offense can achieve runs (points); this happens when one of their players manages through a successful hit as a batter to runner and to be completely run off the three bases counterclockwise in order in one or more stages and return to home plate without out to be made. The pitcher and his defense trying to prevent this by three players on offense out to do. There are several ways of doing this, which are explained below. If there are three outs, the two teams swap roles; Then runners still on the bases can no longer score, because after the change all bases are always empty.
During the game, players can be substituted as often as they want, but a player who has been removed from the game cannot be substituted back in later. A newly substituted player occupies the same position in the batting order (see below) as the player he is replacing. Most leagues place a limit on the total number of players on a team; the statement that it can be changed "as often as you like" only applies if this squad has not yet been exhausted.
Innings and playing time
A period of play in which each team was once defense and once offense is called an inning . The away team is always the offense first, with games on a neutral pitch being drawn. A game usually consists of nine such innings. Half an inning is over when the defense has three outs. In some German leagues, double headers are also played, i.e. two games in a row (2 × 5, 2 × 7, 1 × 7 or 1 × 9 innings are common in Germany). This is intended to increase the number of games per season. For the respective league, this is specified in the implementation ordinance by the responsible regional association. If there is a tie after the specified number of innings, one more inning is added ( extra inning ) until one team wins. There is only a tie if the game has to be abandoned in the event of a tie due to bad weather or because the hour is late. In professional leagues, however, the game will also be played to the end at a later date. The federal game rules for baseball and softball in Germany stipulate that for leagues below the association league, a maximum playing time can be determined by the respective national association. In North Rhine-Westphalia , for example, the maximum playing time is three hours, whereby an inning that has been started must be played to the end.
Duel pitcher against batter
The focus of the game is the duel between a batter of the offense and the pitcher of the field team. The offense players compete individually against the pitcher in a predetermined order (batting order). He tries to throw the ball through the strike zone to his catcher in such a way that the batter cannot hit him with his stick or can only hit him weakly. The strike zone is the area above the 40 cm wide home plate, which is limited at the top and bottom by the batterer's chest and knee height.
This duel is about balls and strikes : A "ball" is when the pitcher misses the strike zone and the batter does not attempt to strike. If the pitcher throws four of them, the batter may advance to first base "without a fight". Likewise, all players who may be on bases may move forward one base if a base is occupied twice by the subsequent runner or runners. This is called a base on balls or a walk . The same advance occurs when the batter is hit on the body by the throw ( hit by pitch ).
A strike occurs when the batter's bat misses the ball or the pitcher's throw passes the strike zone without the batter swinging. If the batter receives three “strikes”, he is out ( strike out ).
The counting of balls and strikes starts again each time a new batter comes to the "plate".
A ball that is hit into the field is neither a “ball” nor a “strike”, the distinction only applies to balls that have been struck validly or not validly (foul).
The decision between ball and strike is made by the main referee ( plate umpire ) who is behind the catcher. Strikes must be announced loudly and clearly by the referee, while he normally does not call balls.
The pitcher may not fake throws; if he starts to throw, he has to do it. A violation of this rule is called a balk .
Hit ball
The most interesting situations arise when the batter hits the ball and hits it back into the field. This makes him a runner and has to drop the club and run to first base.
If the battered ball is caught directly in the air by a field player ( fly ball ), the batter himself is immediately out ( fly out ). Any other runners must first return to their starting base ( touch back ) and may only start running after the catch. But you can also stop if you think you will not be able to reach the next base after catching the catch.
The new runner is also out if a field player picks up the ball from the ground and throws it to the first baseman - while the baseman is touching first base - before the batter / runner himself arrives there ( ground out ). In the case of tight moves, the field umpire decides between safe or out . Any runner who is out must leave the field of play until his turn as the batter is again.
Any runner who is not currently touching a base is also out if he is touched by a field player with the ball itself or with the glove if the ball is in it ( tag out ). However, discarding is not allowed. The runner is out when he has hit the ball, starts running and is hit by the thrown ball on the way to first base in Fair Territory . It does not matter whether it was intentionally or unintentionally dropped. If a runner is hit by a batted ball in Fair Territory that no field player has previously picked up, he is out.
A runner is safe if he reaches a base before the field team can get the ball there. He then scored a base hit . He can always try to run two or three bases at a time, but there may be at most one runner on each base. So if a runner comes from behind (this is always the case on first base, except in the case of a fly-out , as the batsman is obliged to run to first base), the runner there must advance whether he wants to or not , and at the target base there is the possibility of a force out . If no runner comes up from behind (for example if a runner is on second base and first base is free), then he can decide for himself whether he wants to run or whether he stays on his base. Such "voluntary" runners can only be identified by Tag Out (touching the ball in the glove), not by Force Out (ball reaches base before the runner). A double play is the relatively common situation that when a runner is on first base and the other two bases are still free, the defense throws the ball to second base first ( force out of the runner who had to start from first base, to make way for the new batsman who follows), and from there to first base ( force out of the batsman who always has to run). So two out can be achieved in one move .
If the batter makes it to first base with his own stroke, he has scored a single . If he makes it to second or third base, he scores a double or triple accordingly . (However, these expressions are only important for statistics, for the course of the game it does not matter whether a base was reached by one's own stroke or another stroke). A runner remains at a base that he has reached safe while a new batter competes against the pitcher. With his stroke, all runners can then advance further or even score a run, namely when they arrive safely at home plate. If a batter hits the ball over the outer fence, it is called a home run . The batter and any runners who may be on the bases are allowed to run through the bases in peace and quiet and each achieve one run. If all the bases were occupied and four points were scored in one fell swoop, this is called a Grand Slam . With empty bases, however, a home run counts only one point, like any other run.
Fair ball, foul ball or dead ball
A fair ball is a batted ball that hits the ground first in fair territory (the field within the touchlines). If he comes up in the infield, he may not roll into foul territory before he is behind first or third base. If the ball hits the ground “fairly” in the outfield and only then rolls into foul territory , it is a fair ball .
If a batted ball hits the ground beyond the foul lines (touchlines) or rolls out of the infield, it is a foul ball . The game is interrupted by the referee with the call foul (or foul ball ), all actions are then invalid until the game is restarted with the call “play” . A foul ball leads to a strike on the batter, unless he already has two strikes in his account, in which case the foul ball is not counted. A ball caught out of the air will result in a fly out regardless of whether it was caught in fair territory or foul territory . That is, the batsman is out and the game continues.
A dead ball occurs when the ball leaves the stadium, for example due to a miss. This refers to the area that is no longer playable - e.g. B. the stands, the area behind the outfield fence or the dugouts (substitute benches) of the players. Additional lines and dead ball territories can be agreed between the teams and the referees in the Ground Rules , depending on the stadium . For example, if a struck ball hits the ground and then jumps over the outfield fence, this is a “ground rule double”. The batter is allowed to move to second base and all runners move forward two bases. There is a dead ball , for example. B. Also if a runner is hit by a batted ball in fair territory . In this case, the runner hit is dismissed and the batter gets the right to first base.
Base stealing
A runner can try to "steal" the next base at any time, even if the batter has not hit the ball at all ( base stealing ). A typical occasion is when the pitcher has started his pitching movement because he is no longer allowed to interrupt it. The runner tries to get to the next base sooner than the catcher (who has now caught the pitcher's throw) can throw the ball there.
In order to make base stealing easier and to shorten the overall distance to be run, the runners often advance a few steps ( lead ) before the stroke . If the pitcher thinks that a runner has overdone it, he can throw the ball to the corresponding baseman instead of to the batter ( pick off ); If he touches the runner with the ball in his glove before he makes it back to base, the runner is out.
Referee, scorekeeper
A game is usually led by two to four referees . They are called umpires . The plate umpire is always behind home plate (behind the catcher), he primarily makes the decision about the ball or strike , as well as whether a runner has reached home plate safe and thus scored a point, or whether he is there in time was made out . The other referee (s) stand in the field and primarily judge whether a runner is safe or out on the bases . If there are only one or two field referees, they must each run near the base where a tight “safe or out” decision is due. In the event of a disagreement between the referees, the plate umpire always has the final say.
A scorekeeper at the edge of the field logs all actions and moves on a ready-made form, the scoresheet . The completed score sheet is not only used as a game report. On the basis of the recordings, extensive statistics are created that provide information on the strength of teams and individual players. Such statistics are popular with many baseball fans, but have no bearing on winning or losing.
Individual evidence
literature
- Christian Posny , Sven Müncheberg : baseball rules book . Revised 2007. Ed .: Deutscher Baseball und Softball Verband e. V. 6. revised. Edition. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-89899-365-4 .