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# Baseball Cheatsheet ## Basics - **Field of Play:** Diamond with four bases, laid out in a square shape. - **Objective:** Score more runs than the opposing team. - **Equipment:** Bat, ball, glove, helmet, cleats. - **Innings:** Game is played in nine innings, with each team playing both offense and defense in each inning. ## Offense - **Batter:** Player who is currently at bat. - **Pitcher:** Player who throws the ball to the batter. - **Strike Zone:** Area over home plate where pitches thrown within it are considered strikes. - **Hitting:** Batter tries to hit the ball thrown by the pitcher and reach a base. - **Bases:** The four bases are first base, second base, third base, and home plate. A player scores a run when they cross home plate after touching all three bases in order. - **Outs:** The team on defense is trying to get three outs per inning. An out is declared when a batter swings and misses three times, hits the ball in the air and it is caught before it lands, or is tagged with the ball before reaching a base. - **Walk:** If the pitcher throws four pitches outside of the strike zone, the batter is awarded first base without swinging the bat. ## Defense - **Fielding:** Team on defense tries to prevent the other team from scoring. - **Pitcher:** Throws the ball to the batter. - **Catcher:** Stands behind the batter to catch pitches thrown by the pitcher. - **Infielders:** Players who play defense in the infield. - **Outfielders:** Players who play defense in the outfield. - **Double Play:** Two outs in a single play. Commonly, when a ground ball is hit to an infielder, they throw to second base to get the runner out, then to first base to get the batter out. - **Triple Play:** Three outs in a single play. ## Scoring - **Runs:** Scored by crossing home plate after touching all three bases in order. A home run is when the batter hits the ball out of the field of play and crosses home plate, scoring a run. - **Earned Runs:** Runs scored off of the pitcher, that would have scored even if the defense had made no errors. - **RBIs:** Runs batted in. Awarded to the batter who hits a run-scoring play. - **Errors:** Mistakes made by a player on defense that allow a batter or runner to reach base or score. ## Rules and Regulations - **Infield Fly Rule:** A rule designed to prevent a defensive player from dropping a pop-up on purpose to turn a double or triple play. When there are runners on first and second or first, second, and third bases with less than two outs, an infield fly is called if a fly ball is hit that can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort. - **Designated Hitter Rule:** A rule used in the American League, where a team can designate a player to hit for the pitcher, without needing to play in the field. - **Balk:** An illegal pitch. The pitcher makes a movement with the ball that simulates a pitch, but doesn't deliver the ball to the plate. ## Resources - [Official Rules of Major League Baseball](https://www.mlb.com/official-information/rules/) - [MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/) - [Baseball Almanac](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/)