2019 Official Baseball Rules 2019 Official Baseball Rules

1 Official Baseball RULES2019 Edition2019 Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5:16 PM Page iCopyright 2019by the Office of the Commissioner of BaseballAll rights part of the Official Baseball Rulesmay be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval systemnow known or to be invented, without permission in writing fromthe Office of the Commissioner of SecretaryPaul V. Mifsud, LepperdPrinted in the United States of AmericaThe major league Baseball silhouetted batter logo is aregistered trademark of major league Baseball Properties, photo by Bob Tringali/MLB 978-0-9961140-8-0 Official Baseball Rules2019 EditionOFFICIAL PLAYING Rules COMMITTEES andy Alderson, Chair Jon Daniels John MozeliakChris Antonetti Jerry Dipoto John SchuerholzSam Bernabe Brian Gorman Joe TorreAmateur Baseball Advisory MemberMike Gaski2019 Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5.

2 16 PM Page iiiiiOFFICIAL Baseball RULESR ecodified, amended and adopted by the Professional Baseball PlayingRules Committee at New York, , December 21, 1949; amended at NewYork, , February 5, 1951; Tampa, Fla., March 14, 1951; Chicago, Ill.,March 3, 1952; New York, , November 4, 1953; New York, ,December 8, 1954; Chicago, Ill., November 20, 1956; Tampa, Fla., March30-31, 1961; Tampa, Fla., November 26, 1961; New York, , January 26,1963; San Diego, Calif., December 2, 1963; Houston, Tex., December 1,1964; Columbus, Ohio, November 28, 1966; Pittsburgh, Pa., December 1,1966; Mexico City, Mexico, November 27, 1967; San Francisco, Calif.,December 3, 1968; New York, , January 31, 1969; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,December 1, 1969; Los Angeles, Calif.

3 , November 30, 1970; Phoenix, Ariz.,November 29, 1971; St. Petersburg, Fla., March 23, 1972; Honolulu, Hawaii,November 27, 1972; Houston, Tex., December 3 and 7, 1973; New Orleans,La., December 2, 1974; Hollywood, Fla., December 8, 1975; Los Angeles,Calif., December 6, 1976; Honolulu, Hawaii, December 5, 1977; Orlando,Fla., December 4, 1978; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 3, 1979;Dallas, Tex., December 8, 1980; Hollywood, Fla., December 7, 1981;Honolulu, Hawaii, December 5, 1982; Nashville, Tenn., December 5, 1983;New York, , January 8, 1985; New York, , March 27, 1986;Hollywood, Fla., December 9, 1986; New York, , November 23, 1987;New York, , January 26, 1989; Chicago, Ill., December 3, 1990; Miami,Fla., December 5, 1991; Louisville, Ky.

4 , December 4, 1992; Atlanta, Ga.,December 12, 1993; New York, , January 30, 1996; Mail vote, January2006; Teleconference, December 20, 2006; Teleconference, February 5,2008; Las Vegas, Nev., December 9, 2008; Teleconference, May 26, 2009;Teleconference, January 25, 2010; Lake Buena Vista, Fla., December 8,2010; Teleconference, February 16, 2011; Dallas, Tex., December 7, 2011;Nashville, Tenn., December 5, 2012; Orlando, Fla., December 11, 2013;Recodified, amended and adopted at San Diego, Calif., December 10, 2014;amended at Nashville, Tenn., December 9, 2015; Teleconference, January11, 2017; Lake Buena Vista, Fla., December 13, 2017; Mail vote, February2018; Las Vegas, Nev., December 12, Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5:16 PM Page iiiivFOREWORDThis code of Rules governs the playing of Baseball games by professionalteams of major league Baseball and the leagues that are members of theNational Association of Professional Baseball recognize that many amateur and non-professional organizations playtheir games under professional Rules and we are happy to make our rulesavailable as widely as possible.

5 It is well to remember that specifications asto fields, equipment, etc., may be modified to meet the needs of each fines, long-term suspensions and similar penalties imposed by thiscode are not practicable for amateur groups, but officers and umpires of suchorganizations should insist on strict observance of all the Rules governing theplaying of the not only has maintained its position as the National Game of theUnited States, but also has become an International Game being played inmore than 100 countries. The popularity of the game will grow only so longas its players, managers, coaches, umpires and administrative officersrespect the discipline of its code of Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5:16 PM Page ivv(2)The Playing Rules Committee, at its December 1977 meeting, voted toincorporate the Notes/Case Book/Comments section directly into theOfficial Baseball Rules at the appropriate places.

6 Basically, the CaseBook interprets or elaborates on the basic Rules and in essence have thesame effect as Rules when applied to particular sections for which theyare arrangement is designed to give quicker access to any written lan-guage pertaining to an Official Rule and does not require a reader torefer to different sections of the Official Baseball Rules book in con-sidering the application of a particular Book material in this edition are in shaded boxes and are labeledas Comment. IMPORTANT NOTES(1)The Playing Rules Committee, at its December 2014 meeting, voted toreorganize and recodify the Official Baseball Rules into a more logicaland organized manner. No wording or language was changed (otherthan the amendments made for that year); only the order and place-ment of the Rules were modified.

7 In this edition Comments to theOfficial Rules are highlighted in a shaded box rather than beingprinted in smaller typeface as had been the case in prior to Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5:16 PM Page vviThe Official Playing Rules Committee made the following changes thatwill be in effect for the 2019 season: Amended Rule (e) to clarify Clubs rights regarding weather condi-tions. Amended Rule (a) to be consistent with Rule (e) concerningClubs rights during weather situations. Added Rule (b)(2) Comment regarding a pitched ball touching jew-elry worn by a batter. Amended Rule (c)(7) to clarify situations when a pitched ball lodgesin or against the umpire s body, mask, or paraphernalia. Amended Rule (c)(7) Comment regarding a player who intentionallyplaces the Baseball inside his uniform for the purpose of deceiving therunner(s).

8 Amended Rule (b)(7) regarding a runner who is struck by a battedball before it has gone through or by an infielder. Amended Rule (b)(7) (second paragraph) to clarify situations when arunner is struck by an Infield Fly. Amended Rule (g) onlyfor National Association Leagues that requiresa starting pitcher, or any substitute pitcher, to face at least three batters (orretire the side) unless the pitcher is incapacitated. Amended Rule (l) Comment regarding trips to the mound (final para-graph is new). Amended Rule (m)(1) limiting the number of mound visits without apitching change to five per nine innings. Made several amendments to Rule (m)(2) regarding trips to themound: Additional language added to Rules (m)(2), (m)(2)(B), (m)(2)(D), and established new Rules (m)(2)(E), (F), and (G).

9 Summary of Rule Changes for 20192019 Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5:16 PM Page vivii Established new Rule (m)(4) regarding enforcement of mound visits. Amended Rule (i)(1) regarding collisions with the catcher at homeplate. Added a sentence at the end of Rule (i) stating that reference to thecatcher in Rule (i) also applies to other players covering home plate. Amended Rule (a)(7) regarding forfeits when the team fails following the first game of a doubleheader to thirty minutes inorder to agree with Rule (c). Amended Scoring Rule (a) in several places regarding the OfficialScorer. Amended Scoring Rule (c) regarding interaction between the OfficialScorer and various personnel. Amended Definitions of Terms ( TAG ) with a new sentence at the end ofthe definition regarding jewelry worn by a player.

10 Amended Definitions of Terms ( TOUCH ) regarding jewelry worn by aplayer or entries were also made to the of Rule Changes for 2019, continued2019 Official Baseball Rules_2019 Official Baseball Rules 3/26/2019 5:16 PM Page OBJECTIVES OF THE GAME .. THE PLAYING FIELD Layout of the Field ..2 Home Base ..3 The Bases ..3 The Pitcher s Plate ..4 Benches .. EQUIPMENT AND UNIFORMS The Ball ..5 The Bat ..5 Player Uniforms ..6 Catcher s Mitt ..7 First Baseman s Glove ..7 Fielding Gloves ..8 Pitcher s Glove ..9 Helmets ..9 Undue Commercialization.