Ball Talk

A bat: an official attempt to hit a pitched ball. Hitting a sacrifice being walked or being hit by a pitch doesn't count as an at bat.

Balk: an illegal motion by the pitcher when there is at least one runner on base. if the pitcher is called for a balk the runner or runners advance one base. the three most common ways to balk are dropping the ball while touching the rubber, not coming to a full stop before throwing a pitch, and stopping the delivery motion before releasing the ball.

Ball: a pitch that doesn't pass through the strike zone and at which the batter doesn't swing.

base on balls: a free pass to first base, awarded to a batter who receives four balls before being put out by a strike out or a fielder. also called a walk.

batters box: one of two 4foot by 6foot rectangles, 6inches from both sides of home plate. the batters boxes are  marked with chalk. the batter must  have one foot in one of the boxes when hitting the ball.

batting average: the number of hits a batter gets, divided by his or her official at bats( not counting walks or sacrifices), carried to three decimal places.

change-up: An intentionally slow pitch that is thrown with the same motion as a fastball to fool the hitter.

curveball: A pitch thrown with a twist of the pitchers wrist. A right-handed pitcher's curve breaks from right to left; a left-handed pitcher's curve should break from left to right.

double play: The act of putting out two base runners on one play in a continuous sequence. Once of the most common double plays occur when the batter hits the ball to the second baseman when there is a runner on first base. The second baseman or shortstop forces out the runner at second and throws to first to put out the batter.

error: A mistake by a fielder that results in a batter or base runner reaching a base safely.

fastball: A pitch thrown at a fast speed.

fielder's choice: A decision by a fielder who has fielded a batted ball, to throw the ball to a base other than first base in order to put out a runner already on base. The batter isn't credited with a hit even if the play isn't successful.

fly ball: A batted ball that goes high into the air above fair territory.

force-out: A situation in which a base runner must go to the next base, but the fielder holding the ball touches the base before the base runner. A force-out , also called a force play, can only happen at first base or when there is a runner on first base.

ground ball: A batted ball that rolls or bounces on the ground. Also called a grounder.

hit: A batted ball that causes the batter to reach base safely without benefit of an error, fielder's choice, or interference call.

home run: A batted ball that goes over the fence in fair territory to score a run for the batter's team once he or she touches all the bases. Any runners on base when the ball is hit also scores. If there are three runners on base when a home run  is hit, it's called a grand-slam home run. An inside-the-park home run is a batted ball hit to such a place and the base runner can touch all of the bases before the ball is thrown homer.

Inning: a division of the game in which each team has a turn to bat.

line drive: a hard hit ball that travels on a straight relatively low path

lineup: the order in which the members of a team bat. once the game has stared the lineup cant be changed although substitutions are allowed. also called the batting order.

out: the failure of a batter to reach a base safely. a team is allowed three outs in an inning.

pickoff move: a sudden throw from the pitcher or catcher to an infielder to catch a base runner off base.

pop fly: a battered ball that goes high in the air above the infield.

putout: a play in which a defensive player stops or catches the ball to cause a batter or runner to  be out.

sacrifice: a play in which the batter hits the ball and is put out but succeeds in advancing a teammate at least one base. the batters team must have fewer than two outs.

slide: the action of a base runner who to avoid over running the base or being tagged out drops to the ground and slides to the base.

stolen base: a base that a base runner reaches with out the benefit of a hit, error, or fielders choice.

strike: a pitch that passes through the strike zone with out being hit. also a pitch that is hit foul when the batter has fewer than two strikes. a foul bunt is also a strike.

strike out: An out resulting from a batter being charged with three strikes.

tag: the action of a fielder in touching a base runner with the ball in order to put out the base runner.