By Nick Browne
Watching a baseball game can be a relaxing, enjoyable experience. However, not everyone knows the basics of baseball. If you want to be able to follow the action on the field and truly understand the game, you’ll need to know its rules, especially the most basic ones. In subsequent posts, we’re going to look at many of the rules of the game. In this post, we’ll talk about the batter’s box.
As you can see in the photo, there are two batter’s boxes: one for left-handed hitters and one for right-handed hitters. There are specific rules for a batter while in the box.
A batter must keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout their at bat. However, there are a few exceptions that apply that can allow a batter to leave the box. They may leave if: they swing at a pitch, are forced out of the box by a pitch, a member of either team requests “Time”, a defensive player attempts a play on a runner on base, the batter feints a bunt, a wild pitch or passed ball occurs, the pitcher leaves the dirt area of the mound after receiving the ball, or the catcher leaves the catcher’s box to give defensive signals.
If a batter leaves the box intentionally and delays play without any of the exceptions listed, the ump will issue a warning to the batter for their first violation.