⚾
🏛️Official — WBSC
Loading OpenSourceSports…
Team Sports
2–9 players
both
baseball, bat, glove
7 essential rules
Baseball is a bat-and-ball team sport played between two teams of nine players who take turns batting and fielding. The sport is governed internationally by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the IOC-recognized international federation for baseball and softball. This rulebook is ba...
Glove: Fielders wear a leather glove or mitt to catch and control the ball; the catcher and first baseman use specially shaped mitts. Glove dimensions are regulated by rule to prevent oversized webbing that could give an unfair advantage.
The infield (Rule 1.04–1.06): The playing field is a diamond with four bases spaced 90 feet (27.43 m) apart: home base, first base, second base, and third base, connected by foul lines extending from home plate through first and third base. Home p...
Umpires (Rule 9.01–9.05): The umpire-in-chief and base umpires have authority over the conduct of the game, including judgment on balls and strikes, safe and out calls, forfeitures, and enforcement of rules. Umpires' judgment decisions on the fiel...
Putting the ball in play: Each half-inning begins with the pitcher delivering the ball to the batter from a legal pitching position — the windup position or the set position (Rule 5.07). A pitch delivered while not in a legal pitching position, or...
Runs (Rule 5.06 & Rule 9.02, Official Scorer): A run is scored each time a runner legally touches first, second, third, and home base, in that order, before the third out is made in the half-inning, except when the third out is a force out or the ...
Balk (Rule 6.02): An illegal act by the pitcher with one or more runners on base results in a balk; the ball is dead, and all runners advance one base.
Hit-by-pitch and collision rules: A batter hit by a pitch while making a reasonable attempt to avoid the ball is awarded first base (Rule 5.05); rules also govern home-plate and base-path collisions, restricting runners and catchers from initiatin...
Retaliation for a hit batter (protecting your own)
If a pitcher hits an opposing batter, especially a star player or after a prior incident, the custom holds that the other team's pitcher may retaliate by throwing at an opposing batter to 'even things up.'
This practice is explicitly discouraged/penalized by modern rules (warnings, ejections) even though it remains culturally recognized.
Don't admire your home run (pimping)
Batters are expected to run out home runs without prolonged bat flips, standing at the plate, or staring at the ball's flight, as this is seen as showing up the pitcher.
Enforcement varies by culture — more tolerated in some leagues (e.g. Latin American baseball, KBO) than others.
Don't steal a base or bunt when far ahead late in the game
When a team has a large lead in the late innings, attempting a stolen base, bunt for a hit, or otherwise 'piling on' is considered running up the score and disrespecting the opponent.
Exact score/inning threshold is not fixed and varies by situational judgment.
Don't peek back at the catcher's signs as a batter
Batters are expected not to turn around and look at the catcher's signals to gain an advantage on pitch calling; doing so is considered a form of cheating/disrespect and can provoke a pitch thrown inside as a warning.
Ready to dive deeper?