For more examples, click here.

Ground Ball Double Play

Under the right circumstances, the defense can wind up getting two outs on the same play. This is called a double play. And yes, if the defense manages to get all three outs on the same play, that's a triple play, but those are vastly more rare¹.

Double plays spawned by ground balls are fairly common; you’re likely to see at least one during an average ballgame². While there are a few different ways a double play can unfold, they generally all have the same basic structure: an infielder fields the ball, gets the ball to second base for a force out, and from there, the ball goes to first for another force out. There’s an awful lot of variation here: the ball could be fielded by the third baseman, who throws it to the second baseman, who then throws it to the first baseman. Or, the shortstop can field the ball near second base, step directly on second base, then throw to first. Or, the first baseman can flip the ball to second, and the fielder there throws back to the pitcher, who is covering first. No matter the exact sequence, this type of double play has some special rules baked in that are worth discussing, specifically around the first out that is collected.

First of all, whichever fielder goes for the first out actually has to touch the base, while they have the ball. Now, you might say to yourself, “well, yeah, that’s how a force out works,” but the timing involved in most double plays (especially when the first out is at second) is very tight, and it can sometimes look like the infielder will only barely brush the base, if they touch it at all³.

Meanwhile, the runner who is headed to that base has some rules that they need to follow as well, all of which can be boiled down to: “the runner cannot intentionally plow into the fielder in order to prevent the double play from being turned.⁴” Specifically, this means that the runner is supposed to make a “bona fide slide⁵,” which means:

• They must slide before the base
• They must slide into the base (or at least close enough to the base that they can touch it)
• They can’t slide past the base

If a slide is bona fide⁶, there might still be contact between the runner and the fielder, but the fielder will still have a chance to continue the play. If the umpire judges that a slide is not bona fide, and if the defense was not able to complete the double play as a result, then both runners are out— the runner doing the interfering, and whatever other runner would also have been forced out on the back end of the double play. 99% of the time, this means the batter/runner headed to first.

When a ground ball results in a double play, you will often hear announcers label the double play based on which fielders were involved. Each defensive position has a number for scorekeeping purposes, and you can use those numbers to record who was involved in a play. So, you might see:

• The shortstop (6) field the ball, and flip it to the second baseman (4), who throws it over to first (3) for a 6-4-3 double play
• The third baseman (5) field the ball, and throw to second (4 or 6, depending on who catches it), and from there it’s thrown to first (3) for a 5-4/6-3 double play
• With the bases loaded, the ball is hit in front of the plate, and fielded by the catcher (2), who steps on home, and then throws to first (3) for a 2-3 double play

Once a double play is completed, there will obviously be no fewer than two outs in the inning— if so, the inning can continue, either with one last runner on base, or with the bases cleared. If the last out in a double play is the third out, the inning ends; if a baserunner crossed home play while the play was in progress that run usually does not count⁷.