The Ground-Rule Double and Other Dead-Ball Rules
What a ground-rule double is, when a ball goes dead, how many bases umpires award for fences, dugouts, wild throws and wild pitches, and how to work out where each runner ends up.
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The Infield Fly Rule Explained: What It Protects Against and When It Applies
The infield fly rule declares a pop-up an out before it lands so a fielder cannot drop it on purpose and turn a double play. Learn the exact conditions, what runners may do and the cases where it does not apply.
The Intentional Walk Rule: From Four Pitches to a Signal
Since 2017 a manager can send a batter to first base with a signal instead of four wide pitches. This guide covers the rule, the strategy behind the intentional walk and what league-wide counts show about its use.
The Lineup Card, Substitutions and the Double Switch
How the batting order is set, why a replaced player cannot return, what a pinch hitter does to the lineup, and how the double switch works, with worked examples and the rules for batting out of turn.
Mound Visits and Pickoff Limits: The Rules That Speed Up the Game
How major-league baseball limited mound visits starting in 2018, tightened the cap in 2019 and 2024, and added a limit on pickoff throws and step-offs in 2023, with worked examples of each rule.
The Pitch Clock in Detail: Timers, Violations and Enforcement
How the MLB pitch clock works as adopted in 2023 and adjusted in 2024: the timers, the automatic ball and strike penalties, the limit on pickoff throws and step-offs, and how enforcement works in practice.
The Qualifying Offer Explained
How the qualifying offer works, who can receive one, why most players turn it down and how the draft-pick compensation attached to it has been rewritten since 2012.
The Rule 5 Draft Explained: How Teams Can Take Another Club's Prospects
The Rule 5 Draft lets a club select a prospect another team left unprotected, but the pick must stay on the big-league roster all season. Learn who is eligible, what it costs and why it matters.
The Rules for Bats, Balls and Gloves
What the Official Baseball Rules say about the size, material and treatment of bats, baseballs and gloves, from the 2.61-inch barrel and the pine tar line to the ball's weight and the limits on each glove.
Fair or Foul? The Rules of Batted Balls, the Foul Poles and the Baselines
How umpires decide whether a batted ball is fair or foul, why the chalk line and the foul pole count as fair, what a foul does to the count and the runners, and a table of tricky cases from bunts to bounding balls.
The 40-Man Roster, the 26-Man Roster and the Injured List Explained
How a major-league club's rosters fit together: who sits on the 40-man and 26-man lists, how optioning works, how long each injured-list stay lasts, and how to decode a transactions line.
The Save Rule, the Hold and the Win: Pitching Decisions Explained
How scorers assign wins, losses and saves, what a hold and a blown save are, where the save came from, and why these decisions say less about a pitcher than the numbers suggest.
The Shift Restrictions Explained: Where Infielders Must Stand
Since 2023, major-league infielders must start every pitch with two on each side of second base and all four inside the infield boundary. Here is exactly what that allows, what it forbids and what changed.
The Strike Zone: Its Official Definition, Its History and Why It Is Hard to Call
The rulebook's strike zone explained word by word, with the history of how its top and bottom moved, what happens when a pitch hits a batter's knee, and why even good umpires miss close calls.
The Three-Foot Lane, Sliding Rules and Home Plate Collisions
How the three-foot running lane, runner interference, legal slides and the home plate collision rule work, with the logic behind each rule and worked examples of the calls umpires make.
The Trade Deadline: What Is Allowed Before and After
How baseball's single trade deadline works, what clubs can and cannot do after it passes, how the old two-step waiver system worked before 2019, and why August 31 still matters for the postseason.
The Unwritten Rules of Baseball: Etiquette, Retaliation and Change
What players mean by the unwritten rules, from bat flips and 3-0 swings to hit batters and retaliation, how the official rule book handles the same situations, and why the code has loosened in recent years.
How Umpires Are Trained, Assigned and Evaluated
How an umpire gets from an umpiring school to a major-league crew of four, what each position does, how crews and postseason assignments are made, and how umpires are graded.
What Counts as a No-Hitter or a Perfect Game
The official definitions of a no-hitter and a perfect game, what a scorer must decide, why a game under nine innings does not count, and how the 1991 committee ruling changed the record book.
Wild Pitches, Passed Balls and Stolen Bases: How Scorers Assign Responsibility
How official scorers decide whether a runner's advance is a wild pitch, a passed ball or a stolen base, with the rule tests, worked examples and the effect on pitcher and catcher records.
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