231 Fun Facts About Baseball

A batter who takes a called third strike is said to be caught doing what?

Looking. Carlos Beltrán was caught looking at Adam Wainwright's two-strike pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth, ending Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series.

Which Phillies pitcher threw both a perfect game and a postseason no-hitter in 2010?

Roy Halladay. After the May perfect game against the Marlins he bought about 60 Swiss watches for teammates and club staff, in boxes inscribed 'We did it together', then no-hit the Reds in October.

Which broadcaster called Dodgers games for 67 seasons, from Brooklyn in 1950 to Los Angeles in 2016?

Vin Scully. When the Dodgers moved into the vast Los Angeles Coliseum, fans who could barely follow the play began bringing transistor radios so they could hear him describe the game in front of them.

Which player broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947?

Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, becoming the first Black player in MLB in the modern era. His number 42 is retired across all of baseball.

Which Japanese outfielder set MLB's single-season record with 262 hits in 2004?

Ichiro Suzuki. His 262 hits for Seattle passed George Sisler's 257, a record since 1920, and Sisler's daughter was in the sellout crowd on the night it fell; 225 of the hits were singles.

What is the name of the trophy awarded to the World Series champion?

The Commissioner's Trophy. First awarded in 1967, it carries 30 gold-plated flags, one for each club; in 2020 the commissioner had to apologise after dismissing it as 'a piece of metal'.

Which baseball position is located between second base and third base?

Shortstop. Doc Adams of the New York Knickerbockers created the position around 1849 to relay throws in from the outfield, because the era's light ball could not be thrown far.

Which song is traditionally sung during baseball's seventh-inning stretch?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics in 1908 after seeing a ballpark advertisement on a New York subway train, yet he did not watch a major league game himself until 1940.

Which pitching feat did Houston's Ken Johnson achieve in 1964 and still lose?

A no-hitter. Johnson held the Reds hitless for nine innings, but his own throwing error put a runner on in the ninth, a teammate's error let him score, and Houston lost 1-0.

After 1968's 'Year of the Pitcher', MLB lowered the mound and shrank what?

The strike zone. Pitchers ruled 1968 so completely, with Bob Gibson's ERA down at 1.12, that MLB narrowed the zone and cut the mound from 15 inches to 10 to bring the hitters back.

What wiped out the 1994 World Series, the first autumn without one since 1904?

A players' strike. Players walked out on August 12, 1994, over the owners' push for a salary cap, and the Montreal Expos, who had baseball's best record at 74-40, never got to play for a title.

Which Dodgers pitcher won both the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in 1981, a double nobody else has done?

Fernando Valenzuela. The 20-year-old Mexican rookie won his first eight starts of 1981, five of them shutouts, and 'Fernandomania' followed: 11 of his 12 starts at Dodger Stadium that year sold out.

Who holds the all-time MLB record for career home runs?

Barry Bonds. He passed the old mark of 755 in August 2007 and reached 762 by season's end, but the Giants had already announced they would not re-sign him, and he never played another game.

Who won the first World Series, in 1903?

The Boston Americans beat Pittsburgh five games to three, but Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss added his own share of the gate to his players' pool, so each loser took home more than any winner.

Which Royals outfielder is the only athlete named an All-Star in both MLB and the NFL?

Bo Jackson. He was MVP of the 1989 All-Star Game for the Royals and made the Pro Bowl with the Raiders for 1990, but a hip injury in 1991 ended his football career and cost him the whole 1992 baseball season.

Which White Sox slugger was nicknamed 'the Big Hurt'?

Frank Thomas. No club drafted him out of high school in 1986, so he went to Auburn to play football; three years later he was the seventh pick in baseball's draft, and he won back-to-back MVP awards.

Which baseball distance has been 60 feet 6 inches since 1893?

Pitcher's rubber to home plate. Pitchers were moved back five feet in 1893, partly because hitters were terrified of fastballers such as Amos Rusie, and the distance has not changed since.

Which MLB team plays its home games at Wrigley Field?

The Chicago Cubs have played at Wrigley Field since 1916. It was the last major league park to install lights: every home game there was played in daylight until August 1988.

Which Cardinals outfielder took baseball's reserve clause to the Supreme Court after refusing a 1969 trade?

Curt Flood. After refusing a trade to the Phillies, Flood sued baseball over the reserve clause and lost Flood v. Kuhn at the Supreme Court in 1972, but the case helped bring free agency in 1976.

Which player held MLB's highest career batting average until Negro Leagues statistics were added in 2024?

Ty Cobb. His career average, given as .366 or .367, stood as the record for nearly a century, until MLB's addition of Negro Leagues statistics in 2024 put a Negro Leagues star ahead of him.

Which Yankee's 56-game hitting streak in 1941 remains the longest in MLB history?

Joe DiMaggio. The streak ended in Cleveland on July 17, 1941, when third baseman Ken Keltner twice backhanded hard grounders down the line; DiMaggio then hit safely in his next 16 games.

What famous event in 1919 involved the Chicago White Sox intentionally losing the World Series?

The Black Sox Scandal involved eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox who were accused of intentionally losing the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from gamblers. All eight were banned from baseball for life.

Who holds the MLB record for most career hits with 4,256?

Pete Rose. Rose collected 4,256 hits over 24 seasons from 1963 to 1986, breaking a record that had stood since 1928; in 1989 he accepted a permanent ban from baseball for betting on games.

Which pitcher holds the all-time record for career strikeouts with 5,714?

Nolan Ryan. He struck out 5,714 batters over 27 seasons and was still formidable at 46, when 26-year-old Robin Ventura charged the mound and Ryan put him in a headlock.

What is the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' in baseball?

Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning homer in 1951 capped a Giants comeback from a double-digit August deficit to Brooklyn; in 2001 surviving Giants admitted they had been stealing catchers' signs with a telescope.

Which two players chased the record for home runs in a season in 1998?

Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both passed the old record of 61, McGwire finishing with 70 and Sosa 66; in 2010 McGwire admitted he had used steroids on and off for a decade, that summer included.

Which slugger earned the nickname 'Mr. October' for his postseason heroics with the A's and Yankees?

Reggie Jackson. He hit three home runs on three consecutive swings off three different Dodgers pitchers in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, clinching the title for the Yankees.

Whose .406 average in 1941 remains the last .400 season in the American or National League?

Ted Williams. Offered the chance to sit out the final day and protect an average that rounded up to .400, the Red Sox star played both games of a doubleheader, went 6-for-8 and finished at .406.

What does 'ERA' stand for in baseball statistics?

Earned Run Average is the number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings. Runs that score because of a fielder's error or a passed ball are left out, so he isn't blamed for his teammates' mistakes.

Which team broke an 86-year championship drought by winning the 2004 World Series?

The Boston Red Sox ended the 'Curse of the Bambino' by winning the 2004 World Series, their first championship since 1918. They famously came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees in the ALCS to reach the World Series.

Who hit a pinch-hit homer to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series while barely able to walk?

Kirk Gibson of the Dodgers, hobbled by injuries to both legs, homered off Oakland's Dennis Eckersley with two out in the ninth and limped around the bases; it was his only plate appearance of the Series.

What did Bill Buckner do to hand the Mets Game 6 of the 1986 World Series?

Let a grounder through his legs. Boston had twice been one strike from the title before Mookie Wilson's slow roller got past Buckner at first base and Ray Knight scored; the Mets then won Game 7.

What two roles did Shohei Ohtani uniquely fill as a 2021 All-Star?

Pitcher and designated hitter. Ohtani started on the mound and batted leadoff in the same game, and MLB granted an exception to its rules so he could keep batting after he had finished pitching.

Which 1899 team went 20-134, the worst single-season record in major league history?

The Cleveland Spiders. Before the 1899 season the Robison brothers, who owned both clubs, moved the Spiders' best players to their St. Louis Perfectos, leaving Cleveland to finish 20-134.

Who threw the only perfect game in World Series history?

Don Larsen. Knocked out in the second inning of Game 2, he came back to retire all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series; Houston's combined effort in 2022 is the only other Series no-hitter.

Which country beat the United States 3-2 in the final of the 2023 World Baseball Classic?

Japan. The win in Miami brought a third title and ended with Shohei Ohtani striking out the American captain, his own club teammate, for the final out.

After Americans, players of which nationality are the most numerous in Major League Baseball?

Dominican. Dominican prospects are not subject to the MLB draft, so clubs sign them as teenage free agents and train them at the academies that every team now runs in the Dominican Republic.

Which Black baseball league did Rube Foster found in Kansas City in 1920?

The Negro National League. Foster modelled it on the white major leagues and ran it himself, but it suffered once he was institutionalised in 1926, and it folded in 1931, the year after he died.

Which Angels outfielder won three AL MVP awards between 2014 and 2019?

Mike Trout. He won in 2014, 2016 and 2019, yet through 2025 his only postseason was 2014, when Kansas City swept the Angels in three games.

What is the 'infield fly rule' designed to prevent?

Fielders dropping pop-ups on purpose. With fewer than two outs and runners on first and second, the batter is called out automatically, so the defence can't let the ball fall and turn a cheap double play.

Which pitcher holds the record for the most Cy Young Awards with seven?

Roger Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards between 1986 and 2004, the last at age 42, yet steroid allegations cost him Cooperstown: he fell short in all ten years on the writers' ballot, ending in 2022.

A batter wins the Triple Crown by leading his league in which three categories?

Average, home runs and RBIs. Leading in all three is no guarantee of honours: one Red Sox slugger did it in both 1942 and 1947 and lost the MVP vote each time.

Which manager, who led the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 seasons, holds MLB's record for career wins?

Connie Mack. Mack won 3,731 games, most of them with an Athletics club he partly owned and so could hardly be fired from; his 3,948 losses are also a record.

What was the basis of Billy Beane's 'Moneyball' approach with the early-2000s Oakland Athletics?

Using statistics to find undervalued players. Beane's low-budget A's trusted numbers such as on-base percentage over scouts' instincts, and in 2002 won 103 games, 20 of them in a row.

Which company has been the official supplier of baseballs to Major League Baseball since 1977?

Rawlings. It took over in 1977 from Spalding, the supplier for a century, and makes every major league ball in Costa Rica; in 2018 MLB itself joined an investment firm in buying the company.

Which league adopted the designated hitter rule first, in 1973?

The American League. Its first designated hitter, the Yankees' Ron Blomberg, drew a bases-loaded walk in April 1973; the National League then held out, apart from the 2020 pandemic season, until 2022.

Which NBA star played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in 1994?

Michael Jordan. After retiring from the Bulls in 1993 he spent a season with the Barons, a Double-A affiliate of the White Sox, then returned to the NBA in 1995 with a two-word statement: 'I'm back.'

Which Braves slugger passed Babe Ruth's career record with his 715th home run in April 1974?

Hank Aaron. He hit No. 715 off the Dodgers' Al Downing on April 8, 1974, after a winter of hate mail and death threats; two college students ran onto the field and jogged beside him as he rounded the bases.

What did Newark Eagles co-owner Effa Manley become the first woman to do, in 2006?

Enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. Manley used Eagles games to promote civil rights causes and fought to make major league teams pay for the players they signed away from the Negro leagues.

What is the 'WHIP' statistic in baseball?

Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched. Writer Daniel Okrent, the inventor of rotisserie fantasy baseball, devised it in 1979 under the name 'innings pitched ratio'.

Which Negro leagues legend reached the majors in 1948 as a 42-year-old rookie?

Satchel Paige. He debuted two days after his 42nd birthday, and was not finished: at 59 he came back for one game with Kansas City in 1965 and shut out the Red Sox for three innings.

Which Cardinals first baseman hit three home runs in Game 3 of the 2011 World Series?

Albert Pujols. His three home runs powered a 16-7 rout in Texas and St. Louis went on to win the title, yet weeks later he left the Cardinals after 11 seasons for a ten-year contract with the Angels.

In baseball, what rare pitching feat sees no opposing player reach base from first pitch to last?

A perfect game means 27 batters up, 27 down. In 2010 Detroit's Armando Galarraga lost one on what should have been the final out, when umpire Jim Joyce wrongly called the runner safe and later tearfully apologised.

Which Major League Baseball team holds the record for the most World Series championships?

The New York Yankees have won 27 titles through 2025, 16 more than the next-best Cardinals. They won none in their first two decades, then took 20 in the 40 seasons from 1923 to 1962.

Which showman owner sent 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to bat for the St. Louis Browns in 1951?

Bill Veeck. Gaedel, wearing the number 1/8, took four straight balls in his only plate appearance and gave way to a pinch-runner; the league president voided his contract the next day.

How did Harvey Haddix's 12 perfect innings in 1959 end?

Lost in the 13th. Haddix retired 36 straight Braves, then a throwing error put a runner on and Joe Adcock's drive over the fence, scored as a double after a baserunning blunder, beat him 1-0.

Which Yankee won a record 10 World Series titles as a player, all between 1947 and 1962?

Yogi Berra. In his first year as a manager he took the 1964 Yankees to the World Series, lost it to St. Louis in seven games and was fired; he later won a pennant with the Mets as well.

What is the common term for a home run hit with the bases loaded?

A grand slam scores four runs, the most possible on one swing. The name is borrowed from the card game bridge, where a grand slam means winning every trick.

Which position on a baseball diamond is nicknamed the 'hot corner'?

Third base. Most right-handed batters pull their hardest-hit balls that way, and the fielder there often stands closest to the batter of all the infielders, so he has almost no time to react.

Which Japanese slugger's 868 career home runs are the most by any professional player?

Sadaharu Oh. Coach Hiroshi Arakawa taught him the one-legged 'flamingo' stance that became his trademark, and he hit all 868 for the Yomiuri Giants before retiring in 1980.

Since 2017, what can an MLB manager award a batter just by signalling the umpire?

An intentional walk. Until 2017 the pitcher had to lob each pitch wide of the plate; MLB dropped the ritual to speed up play, so the manager now just signals from the dugout.

Who became Commissioner of Major League Baseball in January 2015?

Rob Manfred succeeded Bud Selig in January 2015. Under him MLB brought in a pitch timer in 2023, allowing 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 with runners on, to quicken the pace of play.

In a 2001 spring training game, a Randy Johnson fastball famously killed what in mid-flight?

A dove. On March 24, 2001, Johnson's fastball to the Giants' Calvin Murray struck a dove crossing in front of the plate in a burst of feathers; the umpire ruled it no pitch.

Which Civil War general did a 1907 commission wrongly credit with inventing baseball?

Abner Doubleday. The 1907 Mills Commission declared that Doubleday invented baseball at Cooperstown in 1839, a story historians dismiss as myth; Doubleday was a cadet at West Point that year.

Which way of getting outs is nicknamed 'the pitcher's best friend'?

A double play. It wipes out a baserunner and the batter together, making it twice as useful to the man on the mound as any other single out.

What is a player called who comes off the bench mid-game to bat in place of a teammate?

A pinch hitter. The man he replaces cannot return to the game, so managers tend to save their best bench bats for late, tight moments.

Which defensive tactic did MLB curb in 2023 by requiring two infielders on each side of second base?

The shift. Clubs had been stacking three infielders on a hitter's pull side and cutting down base hits, so the 2023 rule also makes all four start with both feet on the infield dirt.

What does 'RBI' stand for in baseball statistics?

Runs Batted In. A batter earns one for each run his plate appearance sends home, even on a bases-loaded walk, but none when the run scores on an error or as he grounds into a double play.

Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis claimed to have thrown his 1970 no-hitter while under the influence of what?

LSD. Ellis said he took the acid thinking it was an off day, learned that afternoon he was starting in San Diego on June 12, 1970, and no-hit the Padres anyway.

In baseball slang, which player's equipment is known as 'the tools of ignorance'?

Catcher. The mask, chest protector and shin guards got the ironic name, often credited to 1920s catcher Muddy Ruel, because the job is so punishing that anyone clever enough to do it should know better.

What is a pitcher credited with for going a whole game without allowing the other team a run?

A shutout. The pitcher earns one only if he finishes the game himself; when relievers help keep the other side scoreless, the shutout is credited to the team and to none of them.

In which city is Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball?

Boston. Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912, five days after the Titanic sank, and coverage of the sinking overshadowed the new ballpark's debut in the newspapers.

Which kind of out is made by touching an off-base runner with the ball or the glove holding the ball?

A tag out. Because the runner is safe until he is actually touched, fielders have long tried the hidden-ball trick: pretending to have given the ball back, then tagging a runner who steps off his base.

Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman holds a grim distinction as the only MLB player to die from what?

Being hit by a pitch. Carl Mays's submarine fastball struck Chapman in the head late on an August afternoon in 1920, when balls were kept in play even after they were scuffed and dark with dirt.

Which batting statistic divides a hitter's total bases by his at-bats?

Slugging Percentage. Despite the name it is not a percentage: a single counts one base and a home run four, so a batter who homered every time up would slug 4.000.

The 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee ended controversially how?

In a 7-7 tie. Both managers ran out of pitchers, so commissioner Bud Selig called the game after 11 innings; from 2003 to 2016 the winning league received World Series home-field advantage.

Cy Young, whose name is on the award for each league's best pitcher, holds which career record?

Most wins. Cy Young won 511 games, almost 100 more than any other pitcher, in an age when starters finished what they began: he completed 749 of his games, another record.

Tommy John surgery, first performed on the Dodgers pitcher in 1974, repairs a ligament in which joint?

The elbow. Dr. Frank Jobe replaced the torn ligament with a tendon from John's other forearm and put the odds of success at one in 100; John came back to win 164 more games.

What is the term for a pitch that deceives the batter by having less speed than anticipated?

A changeup. It leaves the hand with a fastball's arm action but is gripped further back in the palm, so it arrives several miles an hour slower and the batter swings too early.

Which statistic divides hits, walks and hit-by-pitches by at-bats, walks, hit-by-pitches and sacrifice flies?

OBP, or on-base percentage, was devised by a Brooklyn Dodgers statistician around 1950, yet it did not become an official statistic until 1984.

What is the term for a home run that ends the game in the bottom of the final inning or extra innings?

A walk-off home run. The phrase is credited to Oakland pitcher Dennis Eckersley, whose slang for a game-ending blow reached print in 1988, the year he gave up one of the most famous in World Series history.

What is the common name for the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game?

The bullpen. From 1950 to 1995 clubs drove relievers from it to the mound in a bullpen car, anything from a golf cart topped with a giant team cap to a full-sized car; the custom returned in 2018.

What is the term for a batter hitting a single, double, triple and home run in one game?

A cycle. It usually takes speed as well as power, which made it startling when catcher Bengie Molina, regarded as one of the slowest runners in the game, hit for one in 2010.

Where do players sit when they are not on the field or at bat?

The dugout. Each team's bench sits along the first- or third-base line, usually sunk below field level; the favoured explanation is that this stops players blocking the view of the spectators behind them.

Under baseball's designated hitter rule, universal in MLB since 2022, the DH bats in place of which player?

The pitcher. One exception was written in 2022: a starter who bats for himself can stay in the game as the DH after he leaves the mound.

Which pitch uses topspin to break sharply downward on its way to the plate?

A curveball. Hall of Famer Candy Cummings is widely credited with inventing it in the 1860s, and said the idea came to him as a boy while throwing clamshells and watching them swerve.

What is the 'Mendoza Line' in baseball slang?

A batting average of exactly .200. Mariners teammates coined it in 1979 as a dig at light-hitting shortstop Mario Mendoza, although his own career average finished at .215.

Which backflipping Cardinals shortstop was nicknamed 'the Wizard of Oz'?

Ozzie Smith. He won 13 straight Gold Gloves for his fielding, yet he won a 1985 playoff game with a homer, the first he had ever hit left-handed in the majors.

What did Hall of Famer Wade Boggs superstitiously eat before every game?

Chicken. The ritual earned him the nickname 'Chicken Man', and he even turned it into a cookbook of his favourite recipes, which he called 'Fowl Tips'.

Which batting tactic involves holding the bat still to tap the ball softly into the infield?

A bunt. It is the one foul ball that can strike a batter out: bunt foul with two strikes and he is gone, whereas any other foul at that point simply keeps him alive.

A season mark of 1.000 in which statistic is the classic sign of an elite hitter?

OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging). The 1984 book The Hidden Game of Baseball made it popular, and it spread because its two halves were easy to find and a team's OPS tracks closely with the runs it scores.

What is the term for a batter striking out four times in a single game?

A golden sombrero. Three strikeouts in a game were already a 'hat trick', and since four is bigger than three, players reached for a bigger hat; five is a platinum sombrero.

Who in 2012 became the first hitter in 45 years to win baseball's Triple Crown?

Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers slugger's Triple Crown was the first since 1967 and earned him the AL MVP award, but he then made the final out as San Francisco swept Detroit in the World Series.

Whose ninth-inning homer in Game 7 won the 1960 World Series for the Pirates over the Yankees?

Bill Mazeroski, a second baseman better known for his glove, beat a Yankees team that had outscored Pittsburgh 55-27 across the series.

Which portly pitcher became the oldest player to hit his first career homer, at 42 with the 2016 Mets?

Bartolo Colón. He connected off San Diego's James Shields on May 7, 2016, took 30.6 seconds to circle the bases, and came back to a deserted bench: his teammates were hiding in the tunnel.

Before 2026's automated challenges, MLB's rulebook strike zone ran from the knees up to what point?

The midpoint of the torso. The rule set the top halfway between the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, judged from the batter's stance as he prepared to swing; the 2026 system instead uses fixed shares of his listed height.

Roberto Clemente died in a 1972 crash flying earthquake relief supplies to which country?

Nicaragua. Clemente boarded the heavily loaded relief plane himself on New Year's Eve 1972; it crashed just off Puerto Rico, and the Hall of Fame waived its five-year wait to elect him in 1973.

Which city's Red Stockings became baseball's first openly all-professional team in 1869?

Cincinnati. Harry Wright put every player on salary, and his Red Stockings toured from coast to coast in 1869 without losing a game, finishing 57-0.

Batters rub pine tar on the handle of the bat for what purpose?

A better grip. Rules allow the sticky resin only on the 18 inches nearest the handle's end, a limit that cost one hitter a famous 1983 home run until the league overruled the umpires.

Which player holds the Major League Baseball record for the most career grand slams?

Alex Rodriguez hit his 24th in September 2013 to pass Lou Gehrig's 23, weeks after MLB suspended him over the Biogenesis doping scandal; he finished with 25 and missed all of 2014.

Which team plays its home games at Citizens Bank Park?

The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the 2008 World Series there in a Game 5 that rain suspended in the sixth inning and that resumed two days later, a first for the Series.

On a baseball scorecard, which letter records a strikeout?

K. The 19th-century writer who devised the scoring system had already used S for sacrifice, so he took the last letter of 'struck'; a backwards K marks one taken without swinging.

The National League, founded in 1876, is known by which nickname?

The Senior Circuit. The name marks its 25-year head start on the American League, the 'Junior Circuit', which claimed major-league status only in 1901.

Which franchise won its first World Series title in 2023?

The Texas Rangers beat Arizona in five games, twelve years after twice coming within one strike of the title in Game 6 of the 2011 Series and losing in seven.

What is the count called when a batter has three balls and two strikes?

A full count. The next pitch is called the payoff pitch, though a batter can stay alive by fouling it off; with two outs, forced runners take off as the pitcher delivers.

Which slugger nicknamed 'Big Papi' was released by the Twins before becoming a Boston icon?

David Ortiz was let go by Minnesota after the 2002 season and signed with the Red Sox for a low-risk $1.25 million; he retired in 2016 with 541 home runs.

Which Yankees slugger's 1953 blast at Griffith Stadium popularised the term 'tape-measure home run'?

Mickey Mantle hit it off Chuck Stobbs on April 17, 1953; Yankees official Red Patterson put it at 565 feet, though the ball had glanced off the back wall of the bleachers on its way out.

Teams in spring training's Grapefruit League play their exhibition games in which state?

Florida. The name is linked to a 1915 stunt there in which aviator Ruth Law, meant to drop a baseball to Brooklyn manager Wilbert Robinson, let go of a grapefruit that splattered all over him.

Which team did Babe Ruth finish his playing career with in 1935?

The Boston Braves lured Ruth with the titles of vice president and assistant manager; he hit his last three home runs in one game at Pittsburgh on May 25, 1935, and quit days later.

Which team's 1974 'Ten Cent Beer Night' promotion ended with drunken fans storming the field and a forfeit?

The Cleveland Indians had just tied the game 5-5 in the ninth, with the winning run on second, when fans mobbed Texas outfielder Jeff Burroughs; the umpires' forfeit gave the Rangers the win.

Which National League team plays its home games at Citi Field?

The New York Mets were founded in 1962 to replace the departed Dodgers and Giants, and their colours combine the blue of one with the orange of the other.

In which 1988 film does Kevin Costner play veteran minor league catcher Crash Davis?

Bull Durham was written and directed by Ron Shelton, who had been an infielder in the Orioles' farm system and quit at 25 rather than become, as he put it, a Crash Davis.

Who became MLB's first Black manager when Cleveland hired him for 1975?

Frank Robinson. Cleveland named Robinson player-manager for 1975, the first Black manager in major league history, and he homered in his first at-bat on Opening Day, April 8, 1975.

What is an inning called in which a pitcher strikes out the side on exactly nine pitches?

An immaculate inning. On June 15, 2022, Astros pitchers Luis Garcia and Phil Maton each threw one in the same game, striking out the same three Rangers batters both times.

What is the standard distance in feet between each base on a Major League Baseball infield?

90 feet. The distance was first written into the rules in 1857 after trial and error: at 100 feet the fielders would have had too much of an edge, at 80 the runners.

Which team became the first based outside the United States to win the World Series, in 1992?

The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves in six games in 1992, then repeated in 1993 when Joe Carter's three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth ended Game 6 against the Phillies.

Which infielder plays between first base and the middle of the diamond?

The second baseman often takes throws at the bag with his back to the oncoming runner, so he must catch the ball, pivot and sometimes leap clear before throwing on to first.

In the Astros' 2017 sign-stealing scheme, what did staff bang on to signal the coming pitch?

A trash can. Astros staff read signs off a center-field camera feed and banged a trash can in the dugout tunnel to warn hitters of off-speed pitches; pitcher Mike Fiers exposed the scheme in 2019.

Which Giants centre fielder was nicknamed 'the Say Hey Kid'?

Willie Mays. 'The Say Hey Kid' made his over-the-shoulder grab off Vic Wertz's drive in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds, remembered simply as 'The Catch'.

What is a relief pitcher who enters to protect a late lead and record the final outs called?

A closer is judged by the save, a statistic sportswriter Jerome Holtzman created in 1959 to measure relievers; MLB made it official ten years later.

Who is the all-time MLB career leader in saves?

Mariano Rivera saved 652 games, mostly with one pitch, a cutter he stumbled on by accident in 1997; in 2019 he became the first player elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously.

Who was long credited with devising baseball's 1845 'Knickerbocker Rules'?

Alexander Cartwright got the credit, but historians now think clubmates William Wheaton and William Tucker wrote the rules, which banned putting a runner out by hitting him with a thrown ball.

In baseball, what is the illegal, deceptive pitcher's motion that awards every runner one base called?

A balk. Umpires cracked down in 1988 to enforce a full stop in the set position: Charlie Hough was called for nine in one spring exhibition, and Dave Stewart set the season record of 16.

Which player holds the Major League Baseball record for most career stolen bases?

Rickey Henderson stole 1,406 bases. On passing the old record of 938 in 1991 he hailed Lou Brock as the symbol of great base stealing, then told the crowd he was now 'the greatest of all time'.

Ty Cobb pulled off which daring baserunning play a record 54 times in his career?

Stealing home. Cobb did it 54 times, far ahead of Max Carey's 33, and four times he stole second, third and home in the same trip around the bases.

"Merkle's Boner", a notorious 1908 base-running blunder, cost which team a game that decided the pennant?

The New York Giants' rookie Fred Merkle turned for the clubhouse without touching second on an apparent game-winning hit; the game was ruled a tie, and the Cubs won the makeup to take the pennant.

The famous 'Slugger' bat brand takes its name from a city in which US state?

Kentucky. In company legend, 17-year-old Bud Hillerich made the first bat in his father's Louisville workshop in 1884 for Pete Browning, a local star nicknamed 'the Louisville Slugger'.

Who holds the MLB record for most career doubles, with 792?

Tris Speaker hit 792 doubles from 1907 to 1928 and played center field so shallow that six times he caught a low liner and beat the runner back to second base himself.

Which city hosted the first MLB All-Star Game, in 1933?

Chicago. The first All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park on July 6, 1933, alongside the city's Century of Progress world's fair, and Babe Ruth hit the game's first home run.

Which Hall of Fame shortstop, known as 'Mr. Cub', was famous for saying 'Let's play two'?

Ernie Banks loved the game so much that his catchphrase asked for a doubleheader every day; he hit 512 home runs in 19 seasons, all for the Cubs.

Nicknamed the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', which 1965 stadium was the first domed ballpark?

The Astrodome. Houston's dome opened in April 1965 as the first enclosed ballpark; its grass died under the roof, so in 1966 it installed the artificial surface that became known as AstroTurf.

Disco Demolition Night, the 1979 promotion that ended in a riot, was at which ballpark?

Comiskey Park. On July 12, 1979, White Sox fans stormed the field after DJ Steve Dahl blew up a crate of disco records between games of a doubleheader, and Chicago forfeited the nightcap to Detroit.

Which kind of home run was hit in an All-Star Game for the first time in 2007?

An inside-the-park home run. The drive took an odd hop off the right-field wall and ricocheted away from the fielder, and the batter raced all the way around the bases to score.

What did both starters do in MLB's 26-inning record game?

Went the distance. Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger each pitched all 26 innings on May 1, 1920, before the game was called a tie because of darkness.

What iconic, tall left-field wall is a distinctive feature of Fenway Park?

The Green Monster stands 37 feet 2 inches high, but it only became green in 1947; before that the wall was plastered with advertisements.

Where does the next scheduled batter wait and take practice swings?

The on-deck circle is where the next hitter loosens up, often swinging a bat weighted with a ring called a doughnut, a warm-up aid credited to Yankees catcher Elston Howard.

Which Oriole, baseball's 'Iron Man', played 2,632 consecutive games from 1982 to 1998?

Cal Ripken Jr. passed the old record of 2,130 on September 6, 1995, to a standing ovation that lasted more than 22 minutes, and ended the streak himself in 1998 by sitting out a game.

In which 1992 film does Tom Hanks's manager bark 'There's no crying in baseball'?

A League of Their Own is based on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, founded in 1943 by chewing-gum magnate Philip Wrigley as men went off to war.

Which fluttering pitch, thrown with almost no spin, did Phil Niekro and Tim Wakefield ride to long careers?

Knuckleball. With so little spin the ball's path is erratic and unpredictable; Niekro won 318 games with it and was still pitching in the majors at 48.

Which caramel-coated popcorn-and-peanut snack is name-checked in baseball's seventh-inning-stretch anthem?

Cracker Jack got years of free publicity from the 1908 song, even though neither of its writers had been to a ballgame when they wrote it.

In which state is the Baseball Hall of Fame located?

New York. The Hall opened in Cooperstown in 1939, sited there because of a since-debunked story that baseball had been invented in the village a century earlier.

Ernest Thayer's 1888 poem about a slugger who strikes out for the Mudville nine has which title?

Casey at the Bat first ran in the San Francisco Examiner; actor DeWolf Hopper then made it famous, performing it again and again on the vaudeville stage.

The Montreal Expos relocated in 2005 and became which team?

The Washington Nationals. MLB itself bought the Expos before the 2002 season after a failed attempt to disband the club, then moved it to Washington, where it won the 2019 World Series.

Which slugger signed a 15-year, $765 million contract in December 2024?

Juan Soto had been traded twice in 16 months before free agency let him choose his own club; his contract topped the $700 million record set a year earlier and, unlike that deal, deferred none of the money.

The T206 card of which Pirates shortstop is among the rarest, most valuable baseball cards ever?

Honus Wagner refused to let production of his card continue, so very few survive, and examples have sold for millions of dollars.

Which early-20th-century Washington Senators pitcher was nicknamed 'The Big Train'?

Walter Johnson threw sidearm, and a Detroit star who faced the rookie in 1907 recalled a fastball that made him flinch and 'hissed with danger'; trains were then the fastest things known, hence the nickname.

Which ballpark opened in 1962 in the Los Angeles hollow called Chavez Ravine?

Dodger Stadium stands on land Los Angeles had cleared of its Mexican American residents for a public housing project that was never built; the city later passed the site to the Dodgers.

Which Yankees outfielder hit 61 home runs in 1961 to set a new single-season record?

Roger Maris passed Babe Ruth's 60 on the last day of a 162-game season; the commissioner, a friend of Ruth, had ruled that a record set after 154 games must be listed with a distinguishing mark.

What defensive play occurs when a fielder catches a batted ball before it hits the ground?

A fly out. Runners must stay on their bases until the catch, but may then 'tag up' and advance; when one scores that way, the batter is credited with a sacrifice fly.

Which Yankee hit 62 home runs in 2022 to break the American League single-season record?

Aaron Judge hit No. 62 in Texas on October 4, 2022; the fan who caught it in the left-field seats sold the ball at auction two months later for $1.5 million.

Which Yankees shortstop, nicknamed 'the Captain', won five World Series titles between 1996 and 2009?

Derek Jeter. In the 2001 playoffs he sprinted across the infield to grab an off-line throw and flip it backhanded to the plate, cutting down Oakland's tying run in a 1-0 game: 'The Flip'.

Which US president began the Opening Day tradition of the ceremonial first pitch in 1910?

William Howard Taft threw out the first ball at the Washington Senators' home opener on April 14, 1910, and nearly every president since has followed him.

Which ace was traded from Detroit to Houston in 2017 and won two World Series there?

Justin Verlander held a no-trade clause and approved the move only in the last minutes before the August 31 deadline; two months later he was a World Series champion for the first time.

Which defensive player is positioned furthest from home plate in the outfield?

The center fielder covers the largest area of the outfield, typically positioned furthest from home plate.

Pitcher Jim Abbott, who threw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993, was born without which body part?

Missing his right hand, Abbott rested his glove on the end of his right arm while pitching, then switched it to his left hand to field.

Which Padres great, nicknamed 'Mr. Padre', won eight National League batting titles?

Tony Gwynn spent all 20 seasons in San Diego; on the day the Padres drafted him, the NBA's Clippers, then also in San Diego, picked the college basketball star too.

Which pitcher threw the American League's only Opening Day no-hitter, in 1940?

Bob Feller no-hit the White Sox, saved when Ray Mack knocked down a grounder and threw to first for the last out; Leon Day matched the feat in the Negro leagues in 1946.

Which Yankees legend, 'The Iron Horse', played 2,130 consecutive games, a record that stood for over 50 years?

Lou Gehrig took himself out of the lineup on May 2, 1939, weakened by the disease now named for him, and that July 4 told a packed ballpark he was the 'luckiest man on the face of the earth'.

What shape is home plate?

A pentagon. Home plate was a 12-inch square until 1900, when the rules gave it the five-sided shape it has kept ever since.

The 1989 film Field of Dreams is set on a corn farm in which US state?

Iowa. The movie's diamond was built on a farm outside Dyersville, Iowa, where MLB staged its first Field of Dreams regular-season game, Yankees against White Sox, on August 12, 2021.

Which team took Ken Griffey Jr. with the first overall pick of the 1987 draft?

The Seattle Mariners later signed his father too: in 1990 the Griffeys became the first father and son to play as teammates, and on September 14 they hit back-to-back home runs.

Before every game, new major league baseballs are rubbed with what, gathered from a bank of the Delaware River?

Mud. A new ball is too slick to throw safely, so the rules require it to be rubbed before each game with mud sold under the name of Lena Blackburne, the coach who discovered it.

Which Royals star had a home run nullified in the 1983 'Pine Tar Incident'?

George Brett charged at the umpires in a rage when they ruled the pine tar on his bat ran too far up the handle; the league president restored the home run and the game resumed 25 days later.

How many double stitches hold the cover of an official MLB baseball together?

108. Every big-league ball is still stitched by hand, because attempts to automate the sewing never fully succeeded.

Which statistic credits a pitcher who opens a game and lasts at least six innings while allowing three or fewer earned runs?

A quality start. Sportswriter John Lowe coined it in 1985, and critics point out that a pitcher who only just qualified every time would be giving up four and a half runs a game.

Who was the first commissioner of Major League Baseball?

Kenesaw Mountain Landis was a federal judge hired after the 1919 World Series fix; in 1921 he banned eight players for life even though a jury had just acquitted them.

Which Reds left-hander is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts?

Johnny Vander Meer no-hit Boston on June 11, 1938, then no-hit Brooklyn four days later in the first night game at Ebbets Field, loading the bases in the ninth before getting the final out.

How did Fernando Tatís set the single-inning RBI record against Chan Ho Park on April 23, 1999?

Hitting two grand slams. Both came in the third inning off Chan Ho Park, who was left in to face Tatís a second time.

Bill Wambsganss pulled off which feat, unique in World Series history, in 1920?

An unassisted triple play. Wambsganss caught a line drive, stepped on second and tagged the runner arriving from first, all without a throw.

Which 5-foot-6 Cubs slugger set the single-season RBI record with 191 in 1930?

Hack Wilson was credited with 190 until 1999, when a review of the box scores turned up a missed RBI and the commissioner's office raised the record to 191.

Who was the last major league pitcher to win 30 games in a season, going 31-6 for the 1968 Tigers?

Denny McLain won 31 games for the 1968 champions, but in 1970 the commissioner suspended him for the first three months of the season over a bookmaking operation, and he threw his last big-league pitch in 1972, at 28.

Which Red Sox outfielder won the 1968 AL batting title with a .301 average, the lowest ever?

Carl Yastrzemski's .301 made him the only .300 hitter in the American League in 1968, the 'Year of the Pitcher', and the mound was lowered the next season to help batters.

In 1982 Joel Youngblood became the only player ever to do what?

Get hits for two teams in one day: he singled for the Mets in an afternoon game, was traded, flew to Philadelphia and singled for the Expos that night, both hits off future Hall of Famers.

Little League Baseball was founded in 1939 in which Pennsylvania city, next door to its World Series ballpark?

Williamsport is where Carl Stotz started a three-team league in 1939; the Little League World Series is actually played next door, in the borough of South Williamsport.

Which Yankee threw a perfect game on Yogi Berra Day in July 1999?

David Cone. Before the game Yogi Berra caught a ceremonial first pitch from the man whose 1956 World Series perfect game he had caught, and Cone then retired every Expo he faced.

When a 19-inning Mets-Braves game ended before dawn in July 1985, what did Atlanta still put on?

A fireworks show. The promised Fourth of July display went off around 4 a.m. for the fans who had stayed; pitcher Rick Camp had tied the game in the 18th with his only career home run.

A 1945 World Series curse legend began when a tavern owner was turned away with which animal?

A goat. Tavern owner William Sianis and his pet Murphy were turned away from Game 4, and he is said to have declared the home team would win no more; its next pennant came 71 years later, in 2016.

Which second baseman set the American League batting record of .426 in 1901?

Nap Lajoie had just jumped from the Phillies to the new league's Athletics; when a Pennsylvania court order threatened to send him back, the league moved him to Cleveland, whose team was soon renamed the Naps.

Which team's fans are whipped up for late comebacks by a scoreboard 'Rally Monkey'?

The Los Angeles Angels' video crew first flashed a monkey clip from the film Ace Ventura under the words 'Rally Monkey' during a June 2000 comeback against the Giants, and the gag stuck.

At which ballpark did the 1983 Pine Tar Incident take place?

Yankee Stadium. The Royals' two-run homer off Goose Gossage on July 24, 1983, was nullified for excess pine tar on the bat; AL president Lee MacPhail overturned the call, and Kansas City won 5-4 when play resumed 25 days later.

Which pitcher won 27 games for the 1972 Phillies, who won only 59 in all?

Steve Carlton won 27 of the last-place Phillies' 59 victories, nearly half, months after the Cardinals traded him away in a salary dispute.

Wrigley Field was built for the Chicago Whales of which short-lived rival league of 1914-15?

The Federal League. It ran as a third major league in 1914 and 1915 before its owners were bought out, and the Baltimore club's antitrust suit led to the Supreme Court's 1922 ruling exempting baseball from antitrust law.

The Seattle Pilots played a single season in 1969 before moving to become which franchise?

The Milwaukee Brewers. Bud Selig bought the bankrupt Pilots days before the 1970 season and moved them to Milwaukee; the Pilots had gone 64-98, a season Jim Bouton chronicled in Ball Four.

Which 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings catcher is credited as the first Black major leaguer?

Moses Fleetwood Walker caught 42 games for Toledo in 1884, joined for a time by his brother Weldy; the colour line that followed kept Black players out of the American and National Leagues until 1947.

Which Negro leagues catcher, called the 'Black Babe Ruth', died in January 1947, months before integration?

Josh Gibson hit so prodigiously for the Homestead Grays that some fans who saw both men are said to have called Babe Ruth 'the white Josh Gibson'; he died of a stroke at 35.

Who was the first Black player in the American League, debuting for Cleveland in July 1947?

Larry Doby joined Cleveland from the Newark Eagles, and after his home run won Game 4 of the 1948 World Series, a photo of him embracing white pitcher Steve Gromek became a symbol of integration.

Major league baseballs were covered in horsehide until 1974, when which leather replaced it?

Cowhide. A shortage of horsehide forced the switch, but the ball is otherwise made the old way: a cork-and-rubber core wound in yarn and stitched by hand.

In which country is baseball known as 'honkbal'?

The Netherlands, where 'honk' means base, has won the European championship more than 20 times, helped by players from Curaçao and Aruba, where the game is hugely popular.

Which country, an amateur powerhouse, won baseball's first official Olympic gold medal at Barcelona in 1992?

Cuba took gold ahead of Chinese Taipei and Japan; baseball was dropped after 2008, having gone three straight Games without major leaguers, whom MLB would not release.

Which English-born writer, often called the 'Father of Baseball', is credited with devising the box score?

Henry Chadwick was a cricket reporter in New York when baseball won him over, and he drew up his first modern box score for a Brooklyn club's games, tallying runs, hits, putouts, assists and errors.

Pesäpallo, a fast-moving cousin of baseball, is often called the national sport of which country?

Finland. Lauri Pihkala devised pesäpallo in the 1920s by blending older Finnish bat-and-ball games with American baseball, and its pitcher tosses the ball straight up beside the batter.

Bonnie Erickson, designer of the Phillie Phanatic, earlier created which Muppet for Jim Henson?

Miss Piggy's designer offered the Phillies the Phanatic with its copyright for $5,200, but the team took the cheaper costume-only deal and later paid a six-figure sum for the rights.

Which Dodgers manager attacked the Phillie Phanatic in 1988 over a dummy dressed in his uniform?

Tommy Lasorda snapped during a nationally televised game after the Phanatic stomped on the life-sized dummy, a prop reportedly supplied by his own infielder Steve Sax.

Which mascot with a giant baseball for a head is believed to be MLB's first live costumed mascot?

Mr. Met spent 1963 as a cartoon on programmes and scorecards, then came to life as a costume when the team moved into Shea Stadium the following year.

Which baseball mascot began as a 1970s radio station's promotional stunt at a zoo?

The San Diego Chicken's replacement performer was booed off the field after the station fired Ted Giannoulas in 1979; he won in court and 'hatched' anew before 47,000 fans.

Dinger, the Colorado Rockies mascot inspired by fossils found at Coors Field, is which dinosaur?

Triceratops was the Rockies' pick after builders unearthed a few small dinosaur bone fragments, now kept in a Denver museum; rumours of a seven-foot skull under home plate proved false.

Which animal is Seattle's baseball mascot, who broke an ankle skating into a wall in 1995?

A moose on inline skates was being towed behind an ATV during a playoff game when he hit the Kingdome wall, and the performer tried to return in a costume cut to fit his cast.

A lawsuit against the Kansas City Royals began when mascot Sluggerrr hit a fan in the eye with what?

A hot dog toss is no inherent risk of watching the sport, Missouri's Supreme Court ruled, so the fan, left with a detached retina, was free to sue the team.

Which Racing President never won a mascot race at Nationals games from 2006 until late 2012?

Teddy Roosevelt lost by tripping, stopping to chat with fans and even being disqualified for zip-lining into the infield, which inspired a 'Let Teddy Win' movement.

Which unofficial Angels mascot was born from a scoreboard clip of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective?

Rally Monkey worked at once: the Angels scored twice to win, and the team then hired Katie, the capuchin who had played Marcel on Friends, to film new clips.

Which animal became the Athletics' emblem after a rival manager's insult, inspiring mascot Stomper?

An elephant answered John McGraw, who sneered that the new club's owner had bought himself a 'white elephant'; the team defiantly made the animal its symbol.

Which mustachioed baseball mascot celebrates his team's home runs by zooming down a giant slide?

Bernie Brewer honours Milt Mason, a 69-year-old fan who vowed in 1970 to live atop the scoreboard until a crowd of 40,000 came; he waited until a Bat Day in August.

Randall Simon was arrested in 2003 for hitting which Milwaukee Sausage Race runner with a bat?

The Italian was worn by Mandy Block, who laughed it off as being 'just a sausage', asked only for the autographed bat, and later got a free trip to Simon's home island of Curaçao.

Costumed runners Cheese Chester and Sauerkraut Saul race at Pittsburgh baseball games dressed as which food?

Pierogi got the nod in 1999 after the team's entertainment coordinator tasted them for the first time at a friend's family Easter dinner; a plum-filled runner was rejected as unappealing.

Youppi, the first mascot thrown out of an MLB game, later joined which National Hockey League team?

Montreal Canadiens fans inherited him in 2005 once the Expos had gone, making Youppi the first mascot to switch between major North American sports leagues.

Which baseball mascot's costume head blew off as he parachuted in for Opening Day 1997?

Billy the Marlin was played that day by a Navy SEAL parachutist; the five-pound head turned up two months later beside Florida's Turnpike with only a scratch on the neck.

Which San Francisco baseball 'anti-mascot' of 1984 did the team encourage its own fans to boo?

Crazy Crab was booed all too eagerly: fans pelted him with bottles and batteries until the suit needed a fibreglass shell, and he lasted only one season.

Which animal dashed past the batter in a 2011 baseball playoff game and ended up on the champions' rings?

A squirrel became the 'Rally Squirrel' of St. Louis, a craze whose T-shirts raised about $210,000 for a children's foundation in under two weeks.

Screech, the Washington baseball mascot who hatched at RFK Stadium in 2005, is which kind of bird?

A bald eagle was the contest-winning design of a nine-year-old fourth-grader, who explained that the bird was strong and eats almost everything.

Which animal did owner Charlie Finley make the Kansas City Athletics' live mascot in the 1960s?

A mule named Charlie-O went everywhere with Finley, who walked him into cocktail parties, hotel lobbies and once a press room, just to annoy reporters.

Which fuchsia baseball mascot has been a Cleveland fixture since 1990?

Slider is best known for a fall: during the 1995 playoffs he tumbled six feet off an outfield wall and tore knee ligaments, yet still made the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2008.

In baseball, what may a batter do if the catcher drops strike three with two outs?

Run to first base is allowed here, and the defence must still throw or tag the batter out, which is how pitchers have recorded four strikeouts in one inning.

On a fly ball in baseball, a runner tagging up may leave the base at what exact moment?

When a fielder first touches it is the rule, and a runner who leaves sooner can be doubled off if the ball beats him back, wiping out even a run he has scored.

In baseball, what is the result when a hitter bunts the ball foul with a two-strike count?

A strikeout is recorded, the one case where a foul can be the final strike; any other uncaught foul at that point simply lets the at-bat go on.

In baseball, what happens to a baserunner hit by a fair grounder before it passes any infielder?

He is out, yet the batter is credited with a hit and takes first, so the defence gains an out on a ball it never touched.

With the bases loaded in baseball, what happens when the batter is hit by a pitch?

A run is forced home as every runner makes room for the batter; in 1968 an umpire refused one such award, ruling the batter never tried to dodge, and Don Drysdale's scoreless streak survived.

In baseball, what is scored when a delivery too errant for the catcher to control lets a runner advance?

A wild pitch is the pitcher's fault and a passed ball the catcher's, and when scorers are unsure the catcher usually gets the benefit of the doubt.

In baseball, what must the defence make before an umpire will call out a runner who missed a base?

An appeal is required because umpires otherwise ignore a missed base: a fielder with a live ball must tag the runner or the bag and say what was missed, before the next pitch.

In baseball, what becomes of a run that scores just before the batter is thrown out at first for the third out?

It does not count, however early the runner touched home, because the batter made the third out before reaching first; had it been a tag on a runner who was not forced, a run that crossed in time would stand.

With a runner on third and one out late in a close baseball game, where do infielders usually play?

Drawn in toward the plate, infielders can throw home on a grounder; outfielders creep in too in a final inning, conceding that a long fly would score the runner anyway.

Which baseball play sends the runner from third as the pitcher winds up, trusting in a bunt?

Suicide squeeze earns its name because a missed bunt leaves the runner an easy out, whereas in the safety version he waits until bat meets ball.

Which baseball fielder stands between an outfielder and the target base to shorten a long throw?

The cutoff man can also let the throw through or fire to another base to catch a trailing runner, which is why coaches tell outfielders to 'hit' him.

What is a baseball runner in when fielders trap him between two bases and close in?

A rundown is informally a pickle, the hotbox or a goose chase, and a canny runner elsewhere on the bases may start one on purpose so a teammate can score from third.

What is scored in baseball when a batter is safe only because the defence retired another runner?

Fielder's choice still goes down as an at-bat with no hit, so a batter standing safely on first has just watched his batting average fall.

Under MLB's pitch clock, what penalty does a baseball batter take for not being ready to hit in time?

An automatic strike is the batter's penalty under the clock, which arrived in the majors in 2023 and made the first 400 games about 30 minutes shorter on average than the previous season's.

What is a baseball batter credited with when his deep outfield out lets a runner tag up and score?

A sacrifice fly earns the batter an RBI without counting as an at-bat, a rule meant to avoid penalising a successful swing, but it is credited only if the runner actually scores.

In baseball, what is the call when a fielder without the ball blocks a runner's path?

Obstruction ended Game 3 of the 2013 World Series: a runner who tripped over a fallen third baseman was tagged at the plate but ruled safe, sealing the win.

Which deliberately wide delivery does a baseball catcher call when expecting a runner to steal?

A pitchout is thrown hard, high and outside so the catcher can receive it standing up, with a clear line to throw out the runner.

Which sneaky baseball play has a fielder fake a throw, then tag a runner who strays off base?

Hidden ball trick sightings are rare, by some counts fewer than 300 in over a century of major league play; a first baseman often springs it after a pickoff throw.

A baseball batter 'hitting behind the runner' on second base tries to send the ball where?

The right side means the first-base side: even a routine groundout there lets the runner reach third, where a fly ball from the next hitter can score him.

With a runner on first, a baseball infielder fields a grounder and steps on second for what kind of out?

A force out needs no tag because the runner must vacate his base for the batter; retire the batter first, though, and the runner is no longer forced and has to be tagged.