The Official Rules of Major League Baseball provide a standard for competitive baseball in the United States. The organization's rulebook describes the game's format, players, scoring and rules. Learn these rules to be able to follow competitive baseball more easily and to avoid committing rules violations yourself.
The Field
Regulation baseball fields have four bases, including home plate, first base, second base and third base. The distances between each base measure 90 feet, and the distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate measures 60.5 feet. The MLB rulebook dictates that the distance from home plate to the nearest fence or obstruction must measure at least 250 feet. Ideally, the field should measure 320 feet along the foul lines and 400 feet to the edge of center field.
Format of Play
Official baseball games consist of nine innings. Each inning has two halves. In the first half of each inning the visiting team bats; in the second half the home team bats. When the fielding team gets three batters or runners out, that half of the inning ends.
Winning
The team with the most runs scored after nine innings wins the game. If the score remains tied after nine full innings, the game continues with extra innings. The game ends when the visiting team has a higher score after a full final inning, the home team has the lead after the top half of the final inning, or when the home team scores a winning run at any point in the second half of an inning.
Players
Each team must have nine starting players, including a pitcher; catcher; first, second and third basemen; shortstop; and left, right and center fielders. Teams must submit a lineup with a batting order before the start of the game. Players must bat in the same order throughout the game. If a substitute replaces any player on the starting lineup, the substitute must bat in that player's original batting order position. The original player cannot reenter the game.
Scoring Runs
When a batter hits a fair ball, he begins running around the bases, starting at first base. If a pitcher throws a batter four pitches out of the strike zone, call "balls," the batter gets to walk freely to first base. Baserunners must tag each base in order before returning to home plate to score a run. No runner can pass a runner ahead of him. Baserunners do not advance on foul balls. A team scores a run when the runner successfully tags home plate.
Outs
Batters are out after accumulating three strikes, or after a foul bunt on the third strike. If a batter or runner touches a batted ball before a fielder does, the umpire can call him out. Fielders can get batters out by catching a fair or foul ball in the air or by tagging the batter or the base before the batter reaches the base. On any base except first base, fielders can tag runners out if they overslide the base.
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