Often called the thinking man's game, baseball can be enjoyed on many levels. The basic terms such as strikeout, home run and stolen base are known to most spectators, but as you pay more attention to the scoreboards and announcers, you will find that there is a lot more going on in the game than you might have realized.
Infield Fly
The infield fly rule often stumps the most devout baseball fans. If a ball is hit in the air while there are runners on at least first and second base with less than two outs, the umpire must alert the field that the ball is declared an infield fly. The ball must be hit in a manner that an infielder can make an easy catch with reasonable effort, and the ball must stay in fair territory. If an infield fly is declared, the batter is automatically out, even if the infielder does not field the ball properly. Base runners may advance at their own risk, but must tag up first.
Slugging Percentage
When a batter is coming to the plate, most scoreboards show his batting average. Another measure of how well a batter is hitting is his slugging percentage. The slugging percentage does not only measure how many times the player has hit but how many bases he has covered. The more extra-base hits such as a double or triple a player has, the better his slugging percentage. To find a batter's slugging percentage, divide the number of bases he has covered by his official number of at-bats.
Earned Run Average
A standard measure for how well a pitcher is performing is his earned run average, or ERA. A pitcher wants to keep his earned run average low, as a low ERA means he is not letting many batters score runs. An earned run is a run that the pitcher is responsible for, meaning he let that batter get on base by getting a hit, a walk or hit by a pitch. If the batter reaches first base because of an error, the subsequent run is not earned. To calculate a pitcher's ERA, multiply the number of earned runs he has allowed by nine and divide that number by the number of innings the pitcher has pitched.
Fielder's Choice
The object of the players on the field is to keep the batting team from scoring. In order to accomplish this, it is important to keep the runners from getting to second or third base, which are considered scoring positions. If there is a runner on first or second base and the next batter hits a ground ball, the first objective of the fielder is to get the lead runner out. Since a play was available at first base but the fielder chose to throw out another runner, this is referred to as a fielder's choice.
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