Baseball Pitching Terms

What is a 'wild pitch' in baseball?

A wild pitch in baseball is when a pitcher throws a ball that the catcher can't catch, when it's not his fault that he missed it. It's the pitcher who made an error at throw. A wild pitch can only happen with men on base, because if a pitcher throws a ball that bounces and goes to the backstop and there's no one on base, it's not a wild pitch. A wild pitch only occurs because there was a man on base that was able to advance because the ball got away from the catcher.

What is a 'passed ball' in baseball?

A passed ball, unlike a wild pitch, means that the catcher made the error. It was a pitch that the scorekeeper believes should have been handled and somehow it got away from him. Because it got away from him, a runner on base was able to advance to another base.

What is the 'rosin bag' and how is it used in baseball?

A rosin bag is placed at the back of the mound just behind the dirt and it's there for a pitcher to grab and it's kind of like chalk. It gives them the feel of dryness or it gives them a better grip on the baseball.

What does it mean to say that the pitcher is throwing 'junk' in baseball?

What it means when a pitcher is throwing junk, is a pitcher who likes to throw a lot of breaking balls and off speed pitches and if you will, slower pitches. He doesn't like to throw his fast ball because he probably doesn't throw very hard, so junk is usually all the other stuff.

What is a 'doctored ball' in baseball?

A doctored ball when talking about <a href="http://www.videojug.com/interview/baseball-pitching-rotation-2">baseball pitching</a> is similar to what's considered to be a spitball, where a spitball might be literally a wet substance. Doctoring the ball usually has to do with something sharp like a nail, where a pitcher may actually hide a nail in his pocket or his glove. He may have some sandpaper somewhere on his body or in his glove so he can actually doctor the ball, because once you start creating abrasion on the ball it's going to have new action. It's going to move in a very unusual way, which again is going to be very deceiving to a hitter.

What is a 'no-hitter' in baseball?

A no-hitter in baseball is when the team literally got no hits, whether they won or lost the game. They went through the entire game and didn't get a single hit. And you could actually be no-hit, so to speak, and win the game. Because of walks or errors, you may win a game 1-0 and still got no-hit. But being a no-hit is a very rare occurrence, and it's a very exciting thing for the pitcher if he's the one responsible for the no-hitter. But it basically comes down to, the offensive team did not get a hit throughout the entire game.

What is a 'perfect game' in baseball?

A perfect game in baseball is a very rare occurrence. What it means is that the pitcher on the winning team has made it through the entire game without any of the opposite players of the other team reaching base. For instance, in nine innings that's 27 'outs'. That means 27 players came up and 27 players recorded 'out' without ever reaching first base.

What is a 'save' in baseball?

A save in baseball is defined a few ways. The most common way is when a relief pitcher comes in the game, towards the end of the game, and records the final out in one of a few situations. One situation would be if the tying run is at the plate, if the tying run is represented by the man in the on-deck circle, or the tying run is represented by the player in the hole, which means he's the third player to come to the plate. Another more uncommon way of getting a save is if you pitch the last three innings of a game at the professional level, and I would guess the last two innings of a game at the high school level or lower. In order to get a save, you not only have to be in one of those positions, but ultimately you have to be on the mound when the game is over and your team will have won the game.

What is a 'southpaw' in baseball?

Southpaw in baseball is as simple as being a left handed player as supposed to a right handed player. Just like in boxing, where they say the southpaws are the boxers that are left handed. So it just means being left handed.