Baseball pocket billiards or baseball pool (sometimes, in context, referred to simply as baseball) is a

pocket billiards Pool is a classification of cue sports played on a table with six pockets along the , into which balls are deposited. "Pool billiards" is sometimes hyphenated and/or spelled with a singular "billiard". The WPA itself uses "pool-billiard" in it ...

(pool) that is loosely based on the game of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. The game is played on a standard

pool table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that i ...

and suitable for multiple players. In baseball pocket billiards, many of the game's features are named after baseball terms, such as the being named the "

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

", the table's is "

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the 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 usually refers ...

", and each team or player is afforded "nine

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

s" to score as many " runs" as possible. The game dates back to at least 1912, when Brunswick soberly described it in a pamphlet as "the most fascinating game of the twentieth century." The winner of a game is the player with the highest run tally after all players have taken nine turns "

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

Gameplay

Set-up

Baseball pocket billiards is played with 21 numbered s. Since a standard set of pool balls is numbered 1 through 15, sets of balls numbered 16 through 21, known as "baseball sets", have been marketed specifically for the game, along with the oversized triangle

racks Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin ...

needed for proper ing. The balls are racked at the end of a pool table, with the ball of the triangle centered over the ("home plate"). Viewed from the racker's vantage point, the 1 ball is placed at the triangle's apex, the 2 ball at the right corner, and the 3 ball at the left corner, similar to that of

rotation Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...

. The 9 ball, called the "pitcher", is placed at what would be the center of the rack if the game were to be played with 15 balls. All other balls are placed randomly. Because most physical racks only accommodate 15 balls, the last row of balls may be placed manually after placement with a standard triangle. The opening break and subsequent breaks, if any, are performed with the from the (behind the table's ).

Object of the game

Baseball pocket billiards is a game, meaning a player must call the ball to be hit and the intended pocket on all shots but for the . Any incidental balls pocketed on a successful called shot count in the player's favor but must be spotted to home plate if unsuccessful. Each player is allowed nine s at the table, played in succession, in which to score as many runs as possible. The game ends when all players have completed their rounds. The winner is the player with the most runs after all have finished their turn "

Scoring

Each legally pocketed ball garners the shooter the numerical face value of the ball. For example, pocketing the 2 and 15 balls during an inning results in a score of 17 runs for that . Scores must be contemporaneously recorded on a score sheet with the total tally for each inning marked. If a player pockets all 21 balls before his inning allotment ends, the balls are re-racked and play continues, with a re-break from the kitchen. Each inning continues until a player misses a ball or commits a .

Penalty for fouls

The penalty for a foul is a loss of turn, no score for the ball or balls pocketed on the fouled stroke, as well as no score for the immediately preceding pocketed ball during any inning. This means that if a player did not legally pocket a ball on the preceding the foul, the last ball pocketed in the last scoring inning is spotted and subtracted from that prior inning's score. All balls ed on a fouled stroke are to home plate. If the player has not yet made any balls at the time of the foul, the first subsequent ball pocketed is spotted at the inning's conclusion and does not count toward the player's score.

References

{{Cue sports nav Pool (cue sports)