Everything about Batting Baseball totally explained
In
baseball,
batting is the act of facing the opposing
pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A
batter or
hitter is a person whose turn it's to face the
pitcher. The goals of batters are to produce
runs, but the techniques and strategies they use to do so vary. The main three goals of batters are to become a
baserunner,
drive runners home, or advance runners along the bases for others to drive home.
Goals
In general, batters try to get
hits. They may also draw a
walk if they don't receive a pitch they can hit properly. In cases when there's a runner on third and fewer than two outs, they can attempt to hit a
sacrifice fly to drive the runner in. When there are fewer than two outs and runners on base, they can try to
sacrifice bunt. They might even be
hit by a pitch, reach on an
error or—if first is empty or there are two outs—on a dropped third
strike.
The defense attempts to get the batter
out. The
pitcher's main role in this is to throw the ball in such a way that he or she either
strikes out or can't hit it cleanly so that the defense can get him or her out.
Success in batting
Batting is often cited as one of the most difficult feats in sports as it works down to hitting a small round ball with a thin round bat. In fact, if a batter can get a hit in three out of ten
at bats, giving him a
batting average of .300, pronounced three-hundred, he or she's considered a good hitter. In
Major League Baseball, no batter has hit over .400 in a season since
Ted Williams in 1941, and no batter has ever hit over .367 in a lifetime—
Ty Cobb hit .3664. In modern times, the statistic
On-base plus slugging (OPS) is seen as a more accurate measure of a player's ability as a batter; this stat combines the player's
On base percentage, a percentage of their
plate appearances where the batter gets on base (by a hit,
hit by pitch or
base on balls), with the player's
slugging percentage, an average of total bases with at-bats. An OPS at or near 1.000 is considered to be the mark of an exceptional hitter. A sustained OPS at or above 1.000 over a career is a feat only a few hitters have ever been able to reach.
The lineup
» Main article: batting order (baseball)
The
lineup or
batting order is a list of the nine baseball players for a team in the order that'll bat during the game. During the game the only way to change the lineup is via substitution, as
batting out of turn isn't allowed. Once the ninth person in the lineup finishes batting, the first person bats again; this is the
top of the order. Lineups are designed to facilitate
manufacturing runs. Depending on batters' skills, they might be placed in different parts of the lineup. Of course, when it comes down to it, all batters are attempting to create runs for the team.
The player currently batting in a game is said to be
at the plate,
at bat, or
up to bat (shortened to
up). To keep the game moving at an orderly pace, the next batter due up waits to take his turn in a circle (actually marked or imaginary) between his team's
dugout or bench and the
batter's box, and is said to be
on deck, with the circle known as the
on deck circle. The player in the batting order after the on deck batter is said to be
in the hole.
Types of hitters
- Power Hitters: the term "power hitter" is used to describe players who drive the ball, often hitting home runs and other extra-base hits. See also slugging average.
- Slap hitters: slap hitters are batters who rarely try to drive the ball; instead these hitters simply try to "slap" the ball through the infielders to reach base.
- Complete hitters: players who can just slap the ball, but can come up with extra base hits
Further Information
Get more info on 'Batting Baseball'.
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