Balks
A "balk" is called when the pitcher does something illegal
while there are runner(s) on base. When this happens, the ball
is "dead", and the runners all advance
one base. There are two broad categories of illegal actions
that might result in a balk call:
As part of enabling base stealing, the pitcher is generally not allowed to deceive the base runners into thinking that he is going to throw a pitch, and then not actually throw a pitch. To do so results in a "punitive" balk. This typically occurs when the pitcher begins his motion to throw a pitch, but then either stops for some reason, or else attempts to pick off a base runner instead of throwing the pitch. There are fairly precise rules about what the phrase "when the pitcher begins his motion to throw a pitch" means, although I won't attempt to describe it here. But this is why you will sometimes see a runner start for the next base even before the pitch is actually thrown, and yet the pitcher goes ahead and throws the pitch anyway, rather than stopping and trying to throw the runner out. To do so would be a balk and give the runner the base automatically.
The second broad category is usually called a "procedural" balk. There are fairly narrow rules about what actions a pitcher must do to throw a legal pitch. For example, with runners on base, the pitcher must bring their hands together in front of their body and then pause before throwing a pitch. Failure to do so is a balk. There are also rules about things a pitcher may NOT do. For example, if the pitcher steps onto the pitching rubber and then drops the ball, this is a balk.
Foul Tips
A "foul tip" is defined as "a batted ball that goes sharp and
direct from the bat to the catcher's hands and is legally caught."
This distinguishes it from an ordinary foul ball.
A foul tip is treated the same as if the batter had swung and missed.
In particular, a foul tip as the first or second strike is NOT
an out (as it would be if it were an ordinary foul ball that
was caught), and a foul tip as the third strike IS a strike out.
In casual use, people often use the phrase "foul tip" to mean any ball that is only slightly grazed by the bat and goes foul. But a true foul tip must be caught by the catcher. If it is not caught, it is an ordinary foul ball.
3rd strike passed ball
A rather odd rule is the "uncaught third strike" rule (usually
called the "third strike passed ball" rule). The basic rationale
behind this rule is that in order for the defense to get an out,
it should be incumbent on them to succeed at doing something, not
just to have the offense fail to do something. A pitch is not
considered successfully complete unless the catcher catches it.
For this reason, if the catcher does not catch a 3rd strike pitch,
the batter is not considered to be out: the defense did not succeed
in executing a play that resulted in an out. When this happens, the
batter becomes a base runner, and if he reaches 1st base before
being tagged or thrown out, he is safe.
As an exception to this already exceptional rule, if there are less than two outs, AND there is already a runner at first base, the rule does not apply and the batter is out. This is to prevent the catcher from deliberately dropping the ball to try to get a double play (by throwing to 2nd for a force out and then to 1st for a second force out).
[And yes, it is legal for a batter to deliberately swing at a wild pitch for a third strike and then run to first if the catcher can't field the ball. But this is very rare, since the batter has only a split second to decide that the ball is sufficiently wild that the catcher won't get to it. And if the pitcher is really throwing that badly, you're probably going to walk anyway.]
Hit by a Pitch
Normally, if a batter is hit by a pitched ball, the ball is considered
"dead", and the batter is awarded first base. There are
several exceptions to this rule. The two notable ones are:
- If the part of the batter that was hit was in the strike zone at the time of impact, or
- If the batter does not make a reasonable attempt to get out of the way of the ball (and especially if the batter deliberately "leans into it").
In these cases, the ball is ruled to be a foul ball, and no base is awarded. Contrary to popular belief, the batter's hands are not considered to be part of the bat, but rather part of the batter, and a hit on the hands is no different than a hit to any other part of the batter's body. It must be admitted that most of the time that a batter's hands are hit, it is because he was swinging at a pitch, and one or the other (or both) of the above exceptions will usually apply.
Infield Fly Rule
Although confusing to many people, the purpose of the infield fly
rule is to prevent the defense from getting an easy double play.
It is thus favorable to the team at bat, even though it doesn't
seem like it at first glance. This rule IS in effect at the
Little League major and minor levels as well.
The rule is that when there are less than two outs, AND a force play is available at third base (i.e. men on first and second, or bases loaded), AND the batter hits a fair fly ball that (in the judgement of the umpire) the infield could catch with normal effort, then the batter is automatically out. This is true even if it is not an infielder who eventually catches the ball, or if the ball is actually caught in the outfield, or even if the ball is not caught by anybody at all.
The rationale for this is as follows: suppose there are men on first and second, and there is a pop-up to the shortstop. What do the runners do? They cannot advance, for then the shortstop will catch the ball (putting out the batter) and throw to second for a double play (putting out the runner for failing to tag-up on a caught fly). Similarly, the runners cannot stay on base, for then the defense will deliberately allow the ball to drop, pick it up and tag out the runner from second base, and then step on second base to force out the runner from first. There are variations on this basic idea depending on what exactly the baserunners do, but they all result in a double play.
In order to prevent this, the infield fly rule was invented. The batter is automatically out, which might seem unfair, but this is only one out, not two. The existing base runners may chose to remain safely on base.
