Rundown - wikipedia Rundown This article is about the situation in baseball. For other uses, see Rundown ( disambiguation ). This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( June 2009 ) A typical rundown situation in baseball showing a baserunner for the Texas Rangers as he attempts to evade the Chicago Cubs defense. A rundown, informally known as a pickle or the hotbox, is a situation in the game of baseball that occurs when the baserunner is stranded between two bases and is in jeopardy of being tagged out. When the base runner attempts to advance to the next base, he is cut off by the defensive player who has a live ball and attempts to return to his previous base before being tagged out. As he is doing this, the defenseman throws the ball past the base runner to the previous base, forcing him to reverse directions again. This is repeated until the runner is put out or reaches a base safely. A rundown can be escaped if a fielder makes an error, the runner gets around the fielder with the ball without running out of the baseline, a fielder throws the ball elsewhere ( e.g., toward home plate if another runner is trying to score ), or the runner manages to get by the fielder without the ball while there is no other fielder to cover the runner 's destination base. The word rundown in sports broadcasting has overtaken the word pickle throughout the years. Pickle is more so used to describe the children 's yard game where two fielders must tag the runner before the runner reaches a base or objective, which, although a fundamental part of baseball, is a game in and of itself. The use of the term `` pickle '' originated with the phrase `` in a pickle '', which means to be in a pickling ( difficult or troubling ) situation. Baseball concepts Outline, Glossary Rules Rules of baseball Ground rules Infield fly rule Interference Field Backstop Baseball diamond Batter 's box Batter 's eye Bullpen Dugout Foul pole Foul territory Infield On - deck circle Outfield Warning track Equipment Ball Bat Batting cage Batting glove Batting helmet Cap Doughnut Glove ( defense ) Pitching machine Protective cup Shin guard Stirrups Uniform Uniform number Game process Batting order Extra innings Innings On - deck Out Positions Run Seventh - inning stretch Batting At bat Baltimore chop Bat flip Chinese home run Batting count Bunt Checked swing Cleanup hitter Designated hitter Double Double switch Foul ball Foul tip Golden sombrero Grand slam Ground rule double Hat trick Hit Hit and run Hit by pitch Hitting for the cycle Home run Infield hit Inside - the - park home run Leadoff hitter Lefty - righty switch Line drive Moonshot Plate appearance Platoon system Pull hitter Sacrifice bunt Sacrifice fly Single Slap bunt Strikeout Strike zone Sweet spot Switch hitter Triple Walk Walk - off home run Pitching Balk Beanball Breaking ball Brushback pitch Changeup Curveball Eephus Fastball Full count Inside pitching Intentional walk Knuckleball No - hitter Passed ball Perfect game Pitch count Pitchout Quick pitch Screwball Shutout Slider Spitball Strikeout Striking out the side Time of pitch Wild pitch Base running Balk Bases loaded Caught stealing Contact play Hit and run Left on base Obstruction Safe Scoring position Slide Small ball Squeeze play Stolen base Tag up Fielding ( positioning ) Appeal play Assist Blocking the plate Catch Defensive indifference Double play Error Fielder 's choice Fifth infielder Force play Fourth out Hidden ball trick In - between hop Infield fly rule Infield shift Interference Pickoff Putout Rundown Tag out Triple play unassisted Uncaught third strike Wall climb Wheel play Miscellaneous Baseball statistics Bench jockey Bench - clearing brawl Dead ball Jargon In flight Pepper Scorekeeping Series Shagging Slump Streak ( losing ) Streak ( winning ) Portal WikiProject Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rundown&oldid=710810748 '' Categories : Baseball plays Baseball rules Baseball terminology Hidden categories : Articles lacking sources from June 2009 All articles lacking sources Talk About Wikipedia Français 한국어 日本 語 Português Edit links This page was last edited on 19 March 2016, at 04 : 52. About Wikipedia

Question: where does the baseball term pickle come from
Answer: originated with the phrase "in a pickle", which means to be in a pickling (difficult or troubling) situation.