Batted ball - WikiHQ

thumbnail|right|upright=1.2|[[Casey McGehee on the Milwaukee Brewers puts a ball in play]]

In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a foul ball counts as a strike against the batter, unless there are already two strikes on the batter, with special rules applying to foul tips and foul bunts. Fly balls are those hit in an arcing manner, with pop-ups being a subset of fly balls that do not travel far. Line drives are batted balls hit on a straight line trajectory, while ground balls are hit at a low trajectory, contact the ground shortly after being hit, and then either roll or bounce. Batted balls, especially line drives, can present a hazard to players, umpires, and spectators, as people have been seriously injured or killed after being struck by batted balls.

Fair or foul

thumb|right|upright=.8|A view along a first base foul line, looking from the outfield wall back towards home plate

On the playing field, two straight lines (each known as a foul line) are drawn from the corner of home plate; one past first base and one past third base. The foul lines extend all the way to the outer limit of the outfield, typically a wall or fence, and perpendicularly up the wall or fence.

In general, batted balls are judged by where they land (first contact the ground) or are first touched by a player. That is, a batted ball landing in fair territory or first touched by a player in fair territory is fair, while a batted ball landing in foul territory or first touched by a player in foul territory is foul. However, batted balls that have not yet reached first base or third base are judged on either where they are initially touched by a player or where they come to rest.

Effect

Fielders can attempt to make an out by catching any ball hit in the air, fair or foul, as long as it is still in play. Also since 1931, the ball must clear the fence or wall on the fly to be a home run; previously, the ball could bounce over and still be considered a home run—such a batted ball is now an automatic double.

Characterization

Major League Baseball (MLB) uses four characterizations for all batted balls put into play:

thumb|right|An [[outfielder about to catch a fly ball]]

Fly ball

A fly ball is a batted ball hit in an arcing manner. Under early baseball rules, a fly ball caught on a bounce also resulted in an out; this was abolished for fair balls in 1864 and for foul balls in 1883.

Pop-up

A pop-up is a fly ball that does not travel far; rather than going into the outfield, it is hit to the infield.

Line drive

thumb|right|An [[infielder about to field a ground ball]]

A line drive (colloquially, a "liner" or "rope") is a batted ball "hit in a nearly straight line usually not far above the ground." Batters are usually most successful when they hit line drives, reaching base over 70% of the time, as compared to about 25% of the time on ground balls or fly balls.

Ground ball

A ground ball (colloquially, a "grounder") is a batted ball hit at a low enough trajectory that it contacts the ground a short distance after being hit and "rolls or bounces close to the ground."

FanGraphs also provides batted ball statistics, but uses the four categories slightly differently: all balls put into play are characterized into one of three categories: ground ball, fly ball (regardless of where hit), or line drive. Martinez also had a 5.8% "infield fly ball percentage",

Special cases

The following have special rules considerations.

Infield fly

thumb|right|An umpire (in black shirt) indicating an infield fly—a verbal call is also made

A specific rule applies to infielders attempting to catch some fly balls: the infield fly rule, which has specific context. If (and only if) there are less than two outs and there are baserunners on first base and second base (or the bases are loaded) a fly ball "which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort" results in the batter being called out, regardless of if the ball is caught.

An infield fly is verbally declared by an umpire, whose decision "should be made immediately". If a batted ball declared to be an infield fly is left untouched and it comes to rest (or is first touched) in foul territory before passing first base or third base, it is treated the same as any other foul ball (that is, the batter is not automatically out). This provision has been part of baseball rules since 1895.

Bunt

thumb|right|A batter bunting—note the position of his hands on the bat

A bunt is a special type of batted ball. Bunts occur when pitched balls are "intentionally met with the bat" rather than being swung at.

Safety concerns

thumb|right|Pitcher [[Alex Cobb receives medical attention after being hit by a line drive on June 15, 2013.]]

Batted balls, especially line drives, can be dangerous to players, umpires, and spectators. There are myriad examples; several are provided below. A batted ball hit sharply at the pitcher is known as a "comebacker".

In August 1982, Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox left the dugout to carry a young boy that had been hit by a foul line drive into the team's clubhouse for medical treatment; the boy later underwent emergency surgery at a local hospital. In July 2007, first base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed when a foul line drive hit him in the head during a minor-league game. Umpire Dale Scott had to leave a game in August 2012 after being struck by a foul tip while serving as home plate umpire, and also had to leave a game in June 2015 when struck by a line drive while umpiring at second base. In May 2019, a young fan at a Houston Astros game required hospitalization after being hit with a foul line drive. In a June 2021 minor-league game, pitcher Tyler Zombro was hit in the head by a line drive, fracturing his skull and causing him to have a seizure.

Notes

References

External links

Baseball Rules fair foul ball via YouTube