baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, an out occurs when the

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

rules a batter or

baserunner In baseball, base running is the act of running from base to base, performed by members of the team at bat. Base running is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home base ( home plate) to score a run. Batters strive ...

out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a half-inning, the batting team's turn expires. To signal an out, an umpire generally makes a fist with one hand, and then flexes that arm either upward, particularly on pop flies, or forward, particularly on routine plays at first base. Home plate umpires often use a "punch-out" motion to signal a called

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

Ways of making outs

* The most common ways batters or runners are put out are when: ** The batter strikes out (they make three batting mistakes, known as ''strikes'', without hitting the ball into fair territory); ** The batter flies out (they hit the ball and it is caught before landing); *** A baserunner fails to return to their time-of-pitch base after a flyout occurs and a fielder with the ball touches the base; ** a baserunner is tagged out (they are touched by the ball, held in an opponent's hand, while not on a base); ** a baserunner is forced out (an opponent with the ball reaches the base the runner is forced to advance to before the runner does). * The batter is out when: ** Strikeout-related outs: *** with two strikes, the batter swings at a pitched ball and misses;Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. Se
www.baseballexplained.com
*** with two strikes, they do not swing at a pitch that the umpire judges to be in the

strike zone In baseball, the strike zone is the area of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike even if the batter does not swing. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate and between the batter's kne ...

(and the catcher catches the ball and does not drop it); *** with two strikes, the batter

foul tip In baseball, a foul tip is defined as "a batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher and is legally caught. It is not a foul tip unless caught, and any foul tip that is caught is a strike and the ball is 'in play'." A ''fou ...

s a pitch directly back into the catcher's mitt, and the catcher holds the ball and does not drop it; *** with two strikes, they bunt a pitch into

foul territory In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that: * Settles on foul territory between home and first base or between home and third base, or * Bounces and then goes past first or third base on or over foul territory, or * Has its first bounce occu ...

; *** the third strike is pitched and caught

in flight 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. Once a batted ball touches the gr ...

; *** on any third strike, if a baserunner is on first and there are fewer than two outs (even when not caught); ** Outs related to the batter's box: *** they are hit by their own fair ball, outside the

batter's box A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the playing field, 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 ...

, before the ball is played by a fielder; *** they hit a pitch while one foot is entirely outside the batter's box; *** they step from one batter's box to the other when the pitcher is ready to pitch; ** Other ways of being out: *** they commit

interference Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to: Communications * Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message * Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...

; *** they fail to bat in their proper turn and is discovered in an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

; or *** they are found to have used an altered bat. * Ways that runners can be out: ** The

batter-runner In baseball, base running is the act of running from base to base, performed by members of the team at bat. Base running is a tactical part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home base (home plate) to score a run. Batters strive t ...

is out when: *** a preceding runner interferes with a fielder trying to complete a double play on the batter-runner; *** Tag-related outs: **** a fielder with a live ball in their possession touches first base or tags the batter-runner before the batter-runner reaches first base (except when the batter is awarded first base, such as on a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

) **** the batter-runner does not return directly to first base after overrunning the bag and they are tagged with the ball by a fielder. *** Flyout-related outs: **** a batted ball is caught in flight ( fly out); **** they hit an infield popup while the

infield fly The infield fly rule is a Sport rule, rule of baseball and softball that treats certain Fly ball (baseball), 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_(basebal ...

rule applies; **** a fielder intentionally drops a line drive with fewer than two outs in a force situation (man on first, men on first and second, men on first and third, bases loaded) in an attempt to create a double play; ** Any

, other than the batter-runner, is out when: *** they are forced out; that is, they fail to reach their

force base In baseball, a force play or force out occurs when a runner is required to advance to a base which a player on the opposing team has already reached while in possession of the ball. There are two situations in which a force play occurs: One, a ...

before a fielder with a live ball touches that base; *** a fielder catches a batted ball in flight, and subsequently, some fielder with a live ball in possession touches the runner's

time of pitch In baseball, there are two legal pitching positions: the windup, and the set. Colloquially, the set is often referred to as "the stretch", although this term actually only refers to one part of the pitching motion when pitching from the set. Defi ...

base before the runner returns to it (

appeal play In baseball, an appeal play occurs when a member of the defensive team calls the attention of an umpire to an infraction that they would otherwise ignore. Appeal play situations A runner shall be called out, after a successful live ball appeal, i ...

); *** while they are attempting to reach home plate with fewer than two outs, the batter interferes with a fielder and such action hinders a potential tag out near home plate; *** they are found to have committed a mockery of the game, for example, a

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

of first from the second; or *** they are found to be an illegal substitute. ** Any baserunner, including the batter-runner, is out when: *** they are tagged out; that is, touched by a fielder's hand holding a live ball while in jeopardy, such as while not touching a base; *** they stray more than three feet (0.9 meters) from their running baseline in attempting to avoid a tag; *** they pass a base without touching it and a member of the defensive team properly executes a live ball appeal; *** they pass a preceding runner who is not out; *** they commit

, such as when they contact a fielder playing a batted ball, or when they contact a live batted ball before it passes a fielder other than the pitcher; *** they are touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has touched or passed an infielder. The ball is dead and no runner may score, nor runners advance, except runners forced to advance. EXCEPTION: If a runner is touching their base when touched by an infield fly, they are not out, although the batter is out; *** they intentionally abandon their effort to run the bases after touching first base; or *** they run the bases in reverse order in an attempt to confuse the defence or to make a travesty of the game. Note: When a fielder makes a putout, they must maintain secure possession of the ball. The general exception is when a fielder loses possession of the ball because they attempt to throw it immediately after making the out.

Crediting outs

In baseball statistics, each out must be credited to exactly one defensive player, namely the player who was the direct cause of the out. When referring to outs credited to a defensive player, the term

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base (a tag ...

is used. Example: a batter hits a fair ball that is fielded by the shortstop. The shortstop then throws the ball to the first baseman. The first baseman then steps on first base before the batter reaches it. For this play, only the first baseman is credited with a putout, while the shortstop is credited with an assist. For a strikeout, the

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

is credited with a putout, because the batter is not out until the pitched ball is caught by the catcher. (If the catcher drops the third strike and has to throw the batter-runner out at the first base, the first baseman receives the putout while the catcher receives an assist.) When an out is recorded without a fielder's direct involvement, such as where a runner is hit by a batted ball, the fielder nearest to the action is usually credited with the putout. Although pitchers seldom get credited with putouts, they are credited with their role in getting outs through various pitching statistics such as

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

(a measure of the number of outs made by the pitcher, used in calculating their

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

) and

Outs that occur in specific situations

Certain terms are sometimes used to better describe the circumstances under which an out occurred. For strike outs: * A strike out looking means that a third strike was called because the ball was in the strike zone * A strikeout swinging refers to a swinging third strike. For force outs and/or tag outs (outs that retire runners): * Throw out: refers to when a throw is made to a fielder

covering a base In baseball and softball, part of the infielders' and pitcher's jobs is to cover bases. That is, they stand next to a base in anticipation of receiving the ball thrown from another fielder, so that they may make a play on an opposing baserunner w ...

, who then uses the ball to put out a runner coming to that base. * Ground out: when the batter hits a ground ball that leads to them being thrown out. For fly outs: * Pop out: When the batter hits a pop up (a fly ball that goes high but not far) and it is caught. * Line out: A

line drive 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 fou ...

that is caught. * Foul out: A foul fly ball that is caught.

References

{{Baseball, state=collapsed Baseball rules Baseball terminology

Ways of making outs

Crediting outs

Outs that occur in specific situations

See also

Further reading

References