strike*out
What Is The Definition Of Strikeout In Baseball?
1. This refers to when a batter receives three strikes, therefore giving up an out. A strikeout can occur with called strikes from the umpire, swinging strikes, or when a ball is bunted foul when the batter already has two strikes.
2. A pitcher gains a strikeout when he pitches three strikes to a single batter, without the batter making contact for a base hit. The batter can either swing and miss three times or get caught looking at a pitch in the strike zone. Or it can be a combination of the two scenarios.
Why Is A Strikeout Called A “K”?
A strikeout is sometimes referred to as a “K” because that letter is used to denote a strikeout in baseball scorekeeping. A regular K is entered when a batter is called out after swinging at a third strike.
Why Is The “K” Backwards In A Strikeout?
When Henry Chadwick developed the box score to document baseball games, he shortened the word struck to “K”. However, there was no way to differentiate between a player who swung at the third strike and a player who didn’t swing.
It was decided that a backwards K would be used to indicate the difference. If the batter didn’t swing at the third strike (also known as being struck out looking), a backwards K is used on the stat sheet instead.
What Does Struck Out The Side Mean?
Strikeout the side is a term is used when a pitcher strikes out three batters in a single inning. If those outs all occur consecutively, it’s called striking out the side in order.
What Are Four Strikeouts In Baseball Called?
When a hitter gets four strikeouts in a single baseball game, it’s called a golden sombrero. This unfortunate occurrence is named after a “hat trick” in ice hockey. Five strikeouts are called Olympic rings.
How Can You Get Four Strikeouts In One Inning?
Four strikeouts in one inning (sometime called a 4-K inning) can potentially occur when a batter swings at a third strike, but the catcher mishandles the ball. If first base is empty at that moment, the hitter can make a run for it while the catcher attempts to retrieve the ball and either tag them out or throw the ball to first. If the hitter successfully reaches the base and is called safe, the scorekeeper records a strikeout, but not an out.
A pitcher recording four strikeouts within a single inning is very rare. In fact, it didn’t happen at all in Major League Baseball for almost 40 years (from 1917 to 1955). Today, there are typically only a few 4-K innings per season in the MLB. In 2012, there were a surprisingly high number of cases where this happened: eight in total, with three of them occurring over the course of two days.
Have There Ever Been Five Strikeouts In One Inning?
While there have been no instances of a pitcher recording a five-strikeout inning in Major League Baseball, it has happened a couple of times in MiLB. Minor league pitcher, Malcom Van Buren of the Burlington Royals, achieved a rare five-strikeout inning in 2019.
Examples Of How Strikeout Is Used In Commentary
1. The pitcher catches the batter looking for a strikeout.
2. The batter swings and misses for a strikeout.
Sport The Term Is Used
1. Baseball
2. Softball
Abbreviated As:
1. SO
2. K
3. A backwards K (this means the batter struck out looking or without swinging).
