Baseball: Team at Bat

The ultimate goal of the team at bat is to score runs. The team at bat sends its nine players up to home plate as batters in an order called a lineup. Each team sets its batting lineup at the beginning of the game and may not change the order. Once a runner reaches home plate, they score a run and are no longer a base runner. They must leave the playing area until their spot in the order comes up again. A runner may only circle the bases once per plate appearance and thus can score no more than a single run.

Plate Appearance
Each player's turn at the plate is a plate appearance. When the batter hits a fair ball, he must run to first base, and may continue or stop at any base unless he is put out. A successful hit where the batter reaches only first base is a single; if he reaches second base, a double; or third base, a triple. A hit that allows the batter to touch all bases in order on the same play is a home run, whether or not the ball is hit over the fence. If a player has hit all four types of base hits in a single game, he is said to have "hit for the cycle." Once a runner is held to a base, he may attempt to advance at any time, but is not required to do so unless the batter or another runner displaces him.

Tweet

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

> Return to Baseball Reference Section
> Return to Main Sports Reference Category
> Return to NEWSdial.com