Hobbies And Interests
Designated Hitter
One of the most controversial rules in baseball is the designated hitter rule. The DH is used in the American League to allow a player to hit in place of the pitcher. Pitchers have historically been bad hitters and the DH is used to make the game more exciting offensively and less predictable. One little known regulation of the DH rules is that if a pitcher is moved to another position in the field, the role of the designated hitter is terminated for the rest of the game.
Rookies
In the vernacular, a rookie is a simply a first year player. The actual MLB regulations are a bit more complicated, however. A player can still be considered a rookie in his second season if during his first appearance in MLB he either had less than 130 at-bats or pitched less than 50 innings. A second season player may also retain rookie status if he accumulated less than 45 days on an active roster for a team.
Consecutive Hitting Streak
A player can actually have a consecutive game hitting streak even if he never gets a base hit in one or more games. If all of the player's at-bats resulted in being walked courtesy of four balls tossed by the pitcher, the streak is not considered terminated. In addition, if the player fails to get a base hit due to defensive interference or because he made a sacrifice bunt, the hitting streak does not come to an end.
Perfect Game
A perfect game is one in which a pitcher successfully retires every single batter and nobody gets on base, even through a walk or error. A perfect game cannot become official unless it reaches nine innings, meaning that a perfect game shortened by rain is not official.
Consecutive Games Played
A consecutive games played streak requires only that the player play one half-inning of defense or successfully complete one at-bat; success merely means being called out or reaching base. If the umpire ejects the player before compliance with either of these rules, the streak is not considered broken. If a player goes on strike and misses one game or several hundred, the streak is not considered terminated.
Dropped Third Strike
If a batter has two strikes and a third strike is thrown but the ball is dropped by the catcher, the batter can run to first base and must be either tagged or thrown out. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however. If the out that would have been caused by the third strike would have been the first or second out of the inning, the batter can only proceed to first base if no runner is already there. If the third strike would have been the third out, it does not matter whether a runner is on first base already or not.
Ground Rule Double
If a ball goes out of the ballpark after making contact with anything inside the ballpark, the batter is awarded a double and any runners already on base can advance two bases. In most ground rule doubles, the ball bounces off the field and over the fence, but the rule applies even if the ball bounces off a defensive player's head or body, an obstruction in the playing area, and even if the ball hits a domed ceiling before going over the fence. Every stadium has its own rules regarding ground rule doubles based on the layout and attractions.