In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out for one of the reasons given below. When three outs are recorded in an inning, a team's half of the inning, 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.
Ways of making outs
Some common ways batters or runners are put out are when:
* a fielder intentionally drops a line drive with fewer than two outs in a force situation 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; or
* the batter-runner does not return directly to first base after overrunning the bag and they are tagged with the ball by a fielder.
Any baserunner, other than the batter-runner, is out when:
* they are forced out; that is, they fail to reach their 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 ;
* while they are 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;
* they are found to have committed a mockery of the game, for example, a stolen base of first from the second; or
* they are found to be an illegal substitute.
Any baserunner, including the batter-runner, is out when:
* they are tagged out; that is, touched by a fielder's hand holding a live ball while in jeopardy, such as while not touching a base;
* they commit interference, such as when they contact a fielder playing a batted ball, or when they contact a live batted ball before it passes a fielder other than the pitcher;
* they stray more than three feet from their running baseline in attempting to avoid a tag;
* they are 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 their base when touched by an infield fly, they are not out, although the batter is out;
* they intentionally abandon their effort to run the bases after touching first base; or
* they run the bases in reverse order in an attempt to confuse the defense or to make a travesty of the game.
Crediting outs
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 that 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. 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 and strikeouts.
