Out ( baseball ) - wikipedia Out ( baseball ) The lead section of this article may need to be rewritten. Please discuss this issue on the article 's talk page. Use the lead layout guide to ensure the section follows Wikipedia 's norms and to be inclusive of all essential details. ( February 2017 ) A 1911 American Tobacco Company baseball card illustrating a baserunner being tagged out at third base. In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When three outs are recorded in an inning, a team 's half of the inning, or their turn at batting, ends. To signal an out, an umpire generally makes a fist with one hand, and then flexes that arm either upward, particularly on pop flies, or forward, particularly on routine plays at first base. Home plate umpires often use a `` punch - out '' motion to signal a called third strike. The most common ways batters or runners are put out are by strikeouts, fly outs, tag outs, and force outs ; however, there are many, somewhat rarer, ways an out can occur. The batter is out when : with two strikes, he swings at a pitched ball and misses ; with two strikes, he does not swing at a pitch that the umpire judges to be in the strike zone ( and the catcher catches the ball and does not drop it ) ; with two strikes, he foul tips a pitch directly back into the catcher 's mitt, and the catcher holds the ball and does not drop it ; with two strikes, he bunts a pitch into foul territory ; the third strike is pitched and caught in flight ; on any third strike, if a baserunner is on first and there are fewer than two outs ; he is hit by his own fair ball, outside the batter 's box, before the ball is played by a fielder ; he commits interference ; he fails to bat in his proper turn and is discovered in an appeal ; he hits a pitch while one foot is entirely outside the batter 's box ; he steps from one batter 's box to the other when the pitcher is ready to pitch ; or he is found to have used an altered bat. The batter - runner is out when : a fielder with a live ball in his possession touches first base or tags the batter - runner before the batter - runner reaches first base ( except when the batter is awarded first base, such as on a base on balls ) ; a batted ball is caught in flight ( fly out ) ; or he hits an infield popup while the infield fly rule applies ; a fielder intentionally drops a line drive with fewer than two outs in a force situation ( man on first, men on first and second, men on first and third, bases loaded ) in an attempt to create a double play ; a preceding runner interferes with a fielder trying to complete a double play on the batter - runner ; the batter - runner does not return directly to first base after overrunning the bag and he is tagged with the ball by a fielder. Any baserunner, other than the batter - runner, is out when : he is forced out ; that is, he fails to reach his force base before a fielder with a live ball touches that base ; a fielder catches a batted ball in flight, and subsequently, some fielder with a live ball in possession touches the runner 's time of pitch base before the runner tags up ( appeal play ) ; while he is attempting to reach home plate with fewer than two outs, the batter interferes with a fielder and such action hinders a potential tag out near home plate ; he is found to have committed a mockery of the game, for example a stolen base of first from second ; he is found to be an illegal substitute. Any baserunner, including the batter - runner, is out when : he is tagged out ; that is, touched by a fielder 's hand holding a live ball while in jeopardy, such as while not touching a base ; he passes a base without touching it and a member of the defensive team properly executes a live ball appeal ; he commits interference, such as when he contacts a fielder playing a batted ball, or when he contacts a live batted ball before it passes a fielder other than the pitcher ; he strays more than three feet (. 91 meters ) from his running baseline in attempting to avoid a tag ; he passes a preceding runner who is not out ; he is touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has touched or passed an infielder. The ball is dead and no runner may score, nor runners advance, except runners forced to advance. EXCEPTION : If a runner is touching his base when touched by an Infield Fly, he is not out, although the batter is out ; he intentionally abandons his effort to run the bases ; or he runs the bases in reverse order in an attempt to confuse the defense or to make a travesty of the game. Contents 1 Scoring 2 See also 3 Further reading 4 References Scoring In baseball statistics, each out must be credited to exactly one defensive player, namely the player who was the direct cause of the out. When referring to outs credited to a defensive player, the term putout is used. Example : a batter hits a fair ball which is fielded by the shortstop. The shortstop then throws the ball to the first baseman. The first baseman then steps on first base before the batter reaches it. For this play, only the first baseman is credited with a putout, while the shortstop is credited with an assist. For a strikeout, the catcher is credited with a putout, because the batter is not out until the pitched ball is caught by the catcher. ( If the catcher drops the third strike and has to throw the batter - runner out at first base, the first baseman receives the putout while the catcher receives an assist. ) When an out is recorded without a fielder 's direct involvement, such as where a runner is hit by a batted ball, the fielder nearest to the action is usually credited with the putout. Although pitchers seldom get credited with putouts, they are credited with their role in getting outs through various pitching statistics such as innings pitched ( a measure of the number of outs made by the pitcher, used in calculating his ERA ) and strikeouts. See also Safe ( baseball ) Tie goes to the runner Further reading Official rules for batters, including when the batter is out Official rules for runners, including when the runner is out References Jump up ^ Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www.baseballexplained.com Jump up ^ Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www.baseballexplained.com Jump up ^ Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www. baseball explained.com ^ Jump up to : Official Baseball Rules 2017 Edition. United States of America : Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. 2017. ISBN 978 - 0 - 9961140 - 4 - 2. Retrieved September 17, 2017. Jump up ^ Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www.baseballexplained.com 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=Out_(baseball)&oldid=801170759 '' Categories : Baseball rules Baseball terminology Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from August 2017 Wikipedia introduction cleanup from February 2017 All pages needing cleanup Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from February 2017 All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Deutsch Français 한국어 日本 語 Simple English 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 18 September 2017, at 02 : 37. 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Question: how far can you run off the baseline in baseball
Answer: three feet (.91 meters)