Some Technical baseball terms

Ball four - the batter is awarded first base after receiving a fourth ball (a pitch that is outside of the strike zone).

Balls and strikes - the count of balls and strikes for each of a batter's plate appearances, which ranges from either 0 and 1 (one strike) or 1 and 0 (one ball) to 3 and 2 (three balls and two strikes - the full count). At the 3 and 2 count, the batter either must get on base or be out or hit a foul ball.

Base on balls (in baseball the batter is awarded first base after taking four balls (pitches outside of the strike zone)).

Beanball - a ball thrown intentionally by the pitcher at a batter's head. Outlawed by baseball rules. Its use will result in penalties against the offending pitcher and his team.

Curveball - a type of pitch which curves either towards or away from the batter.

Dead ball - the original baseball used in league play until the 1920s, when it was replaced with the "lively ball." Use of the dead ball resulted in very few home runs being hit.

Emery ball - a baseball that had been scuffed on an emery pad; outlawed in the 1920s.

Fair ball - a ball that is hit in fair territory, as opposed to a foul ball.

Fastball - the most common pitch; it is thrown around 90 miles per hour.

First ball - a ceremonial pitch before the start of an opening day game; it is usually made by a celebrity, a politician or an old-time player.

Fly ball - a ball that is hit on the fly. If it is caught by a fielder before it hits the ground, then the batter is out.

Forkball - a type of pitch

Foul ball - a ball hit outside of the playing field and catchable on the fly for an out.

Ground ball - a ball that is hit by the batter and hits the ground before a fielder can catch it. Catching a ball that has touched the ground will not result in an automatic out. As opposed to a fly ball.

Knuckleball - a type of pitch that is thrown off of the knuckles - it tends to be slow and erratic in delivery; also sometimes called a flutterball.

Lively ball - a ball that travels farther than a so-called "dead ball."

Long ball - a ball that is hit a long distance, usually refers to a home run.

Night ball - refers to baseball games played in the evening under artifical lights. The first night game in the major leagues was played in Cincinnati in 1935. The first World Series night game was played in 1971 in Pittsburgh, which pitted the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. the Baltimore Orioles.

Play ball - start the ball game

Passed ball - a pitch that the catcher cannot properly handle and that results in a base runner advancing a base.

Screwball - a type of pitch that moves in the opposite direction of a traditional curve ball.

T-ball - originally, Tee-ball, a modified version of baseball for children, in which the ball is batted from a tee, rather than being pitched to the batter. This avoids young batters from being hit by a pitched ball, although they still may be hit by their own fouled balls.

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This web page was recently created by James Sayre.

Contact author James K. Sayre at sayresayre@yahoo.com. Author's Email: sayresayre@yahoo.com

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Web page last updated on 18 February 2004.