Cheat Sheet

Baseball For Dummies

From Baseball For Dummies, 4th Edition by Joe Morgan, Richard Lally

Think of this Cheat Sheet as your shortcut guide to baseball, America’s pastime, and a concise set of notes to consult about the basic rules and positions. You can quickly refer to it when you or a friend needs a quick explanation of why a certain play just happened, its circumstances, and consequences. In other words: the Situation. You’ll understand not just what the players on the field are doing, but why they’re doing it.

How Hitters Make Outs in Baseball










  • You obstruct the catcher from fielding or throwing.


How Batters Make It to a Base in Baseball






  • The catcher obstructs your swing.




How Baseball Players Get an Out on the Base Paths

After a baseball player reaches base, a million things can happen to him — and the worst of them is getting put out. The following is a short list of the most common ways base runners suffer that fate. You should refer to it if you want to make sure why an out was made, or anticipate how one could be made — or avoided.

  • You’re on the same base with a teammate when the ball is alive (the second runner is out).

  • You pass a preceding runner on the base paths.

  • You miss a base and the defense notices it and gets the ball to the fielder closest to that base, which he must tag.

  • A fielder tags you with a ball that is alive while you’re off the base. (However, no one can tag you out if you overrun first base provided you return immediately to that bag without making an attempt toward second.)

  • Your teammate hits a ball that touches you in fair territory without it first touching or passing any fielder except the pitcher.

  • In the judgment of the umpire, you hinder a fielder from making a play.

  • A batted ball forces you to advance to another base, and the fielder possessing the ball tags that base before you reach it.

What are the Positions on a Baseball Team?

The following figure shows the different positions (and their abbreviations) of the positions on a baseball team. It’s baseball’s chessboard. Knowing the positions and the way they relate to each other can help you understand the role of each as you watch play unfold.

You also can see why some positions are more important than others and certain players are more suited for a certain position. After a short while, you can better see that the way a team deploys its players by position can either lift it or sink it.

Refer to the following figure to keep track of “Who’s on First?” and the other eight positions (nine, if you count the designated hitter).


American League lineups include a designated hitter who bats for the pitcher without taking a defensive position in the field. DH is the abbreviation for that slot.

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