: The Game

The Rules
Regardless of the age of your team, they will all play on a baseball diamond, which will be sized proportionally to the age of your team. The four corners of the diamond are: Home Plate, where batting occurs; First Base, the base to the right if standing on home plate looking towards the pitchers’ mound; Third Base which is to the left; and second is in-between. Rules will be varied as well, I.e. younger teams will not steal bases, the infield fly rule will be suspended, etc… Pitching may be modified to include machine-pitch and coach-pitch or completely eliminated in the case to T-Ball, in which case the batter hits the ball off of a stand (Tee, like golf). Here are the rules and specifications of a typical game:

• Each team will have 9 players participating in a game at one-time.
  
• Once a batting order is established, it must be followed for the duration of the game. If players are substituted, they will take the position in the batting order of the player that they replaced.
  
• Each batting team will continue to bat until the team records 3 outs, at which time they return to the field. An out is recorded by striking out (see below); by flying out, in which the batted ball is caught by an opponent before it touches the ground; or by grounding out, in which the batted ball touches the ground before being caught and is thrown to first base before the batter touches the base.
  
• Each batting player is allowed a maximum or 3 strikes or 4 balls. A strike is a ball that is: swung at and missed; swung at and hit into foul territory; or a ball thrown in the strike zone that is not swung at. A ball is called when the pitched ball is not thrown over the plate and the player does not swing. If a player receives 3 strikes, it will be recorded as an out. If a ball is hit into foul territory and caught, the batter is out. One the third strike, any foul ball will not count as the third strike. If a player receives 4 balls, he records a walk, which is a ‘free pass’ to go to first base. Any players in a force position will move forward one base as well.
  
• A run is scored if a batter is able to touch all four bases before the 3^rd out is called. The team with the most runs at the completion of play is deemed the winner.
  

There are several special rules and procedures for T-Ball that will vary slightly by association and league. Some of these variations are:

• All players bat, or a pre-determined number, often more than 9.
• All players take the field, or a pre-determined number, usually more than 9.
• Runners play ‘tight’ bases, meaning they must remain on base until the ball is batted.
• There is no stealing of bases.
• There is no infield fly rule.
• There are no strikes and balls. Generally a coach or umpire will assist after so-many swings.
• There is usually a time limit rather than an inning limit. A T-Ball game played to 9 innings could take 3 to 5 hours!