Baseball Strike Zone

Part of the Video Series Baseball for Beginners

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Know when to swing the bat! Learn where the strike zone is in baseball, in this free video.

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Baseball Strike Zone
Hi my name is Ben. I’m here to discuss some of the basic rules to the game of baseball. What we are going to start out with is the idea of a strike zone. And a strike zone is the stretch from this inside half of the plate to the outer half of the plate and it will go a ways up to about a little above your belt and maybe a little be below your knee caps. And the strike zone is going to determine whether or not a pitch is a ball or a strike; and ultimately an out or a walk. So, as a hitter if a ball passes through the strike zone and I don’t swing the Umpire is going to call it a strike. If the ball passes through anywhere else; high, down in the dirt, low anywhere that is not in this imaginary zone it’s going to be called a ball. So that’s the only way that a ball is going to be called if it’s not in the strike zone. Where as a strike can be called if a ball is in the strike zone; we don’t swing if a ball is anywhere else and we swing and miss or if we make contact with the ball and foul it off to the right of this foul line here and to the left of this foul line here; that’s also a strike. So the three ways to record a strike a foul ball, a swing and a miss or taking a pitch. Taking a pitch means basically not swinging at a pitch that goes through the strike zone. So hitters are allotted two strikes; on the third strike they are out unless they foul it off in which case they are not penalized. You can foul off as many pitches in a row without being called out. It’s only when you swing and miss or when you let a ball go through the strike zone and you don’t swing and it’s called a strike. Pitchers on the other hand are allotted three balls; on the fourth ball the hitter gets to walk. Basically that means they get a free pass to first base and get to go to first base. And like I just discussed, there is only one way to get a ball, to record a ball is to have a pitch cross the plate but not cross into the strike zone. So, say I’m hitting, I get a ball up around my head or a ball outside or a ball in the dirt, that’s three balls and one more ball I get a free pass to first base.

About the Expert

Expert: Ben Graham was an outstanding high school and collegiate baseball player where he won all-conference honors. Read More