baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, the count refers to the number of

balls and strikes In baseball, the strike zone is the volume of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike even if the batter does not swing. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate and between the batter's k ...

a batter has in their current

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runn ...

. If the count reaches three strikes, the batter strikes out; if the count reaches four balls, the batter earns a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

(a "walk").

Usage

The count is usually announced as a pair of numbers, for example, 3–1 (pronounced as "three and one"), with the first number being the number of balls and the second being the number of strikes. Zero is almost always pronounced as "oh". The count is often used as adjective—an individual pitch may be referred to by the count prior to its delivery; for example, a pitch thrown with a count of three balls and one strike would be called a "three-one pitch" or a "three-and-one pitch". A count of 0–0 is rarely expressed as such, as the count is typically not mentioned until at least one pitch has been thrown. A count of 1–1 or 2–2 may be described as ''even''. A count of 3–2 is ''full'', which is discussed below. The home plate

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per' ...

will signal the count with the number of balls on his left hand, and the number of strikes on his right hand. (As a result, it reads backwards when viewed from the

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

's point of view.) Individual umpires vary in how frequently they give this signal; it is often done as a reminder when there has been a slight delay between pitches, such as due to the batter stepping out of the

batter's box A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. It can also be a signal to the

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...

operator that an incorrect count is being shown on the board. Some umpires may also give the count verbally, although usually only the batter and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

can hear it.

Significance

An important part of

baseball statistics Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating the progress of a player or team. Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itsel ...

is measuring which counts are most likely to produce favorable outcomes for the pitcher or the hitter. Counts of 3–1 and 2–0 are considered advantageous to hitters ("hitters' counts"), because the pitcher—faced with the possibility of

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

the batter—is more likely to throw a ball in the

strike zone In baseball, the strike zone is the volume of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike even if the batter does not swing. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate and between the batter's k ...

, particularly a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

. Counts with two strikes (except 3–2) are considered advantageous to pitchers ("pitchers' counts"). An 0–2 count is very favorable to a pitcher. In such a count, the pitcher has the freedom to throw one (or sometimes two) pitches out of the strike zone intentionally, in an attempt to get the batter to "chase" the pitch (swing at it), and

strike out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. Somewhat surprisingly, in general, a 3–0 count tends to yield fewer hittable pitches, depending on the situation. (Baseball fans have often suggested that this is because umpires are reluctant to call four straight balls and as a result "ease up" on the fourth pitch, treating it as having a wider strike zone.) Often, batters will "take" (not swing at) a 3–0 pitch, since the pitcher has missed the strike zone three straight times already, and a fourth would earn the batter a walk. This is a sound strategy because the batter is more likely to eventually reach base even if the count becomes 3–1 than he is if he puts the ball in play on 3–0.Bickel, J. Eric. 2009. On the decision to take a pitch. Decision Anal. 6(3) 186–193. In some situations, it is also advantageous to take on 2–0 and 3–1.

Full count

A full count is the common name for a count where the batter has three balls and two strikes. Since a batter may maintain two strikes indefinitely by hitting

foul ball In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that: * Settles on foul territory between home and first base or between home and third base, or * Bounces and then goes past first or third base on or over foul territory, or * Has its first bounce occu ...

s, a full count does not always mean that only five pitches have been thrown, nor does it ensure that there is only one more pitch to be throw in the

. The full count term may derive from older scoreboards, which had spaces (rather than numerals) to denote up to three balls and up to two strikes, as this is the maximum number of each that can be accrued during an ongoing plate appearance. Many scoreboards still use light bulbs for this purpose, thus a 3–2 count means that all the bulbs are fully lit up. The alternate term full house (more commonly used in softball) is likely to have been influenced by the

full house ''Full House'' is an American television Situation comedy, sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best ...

hand in

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

, consisting of three of a kind and a pair. A pitch thrown with a full count is often referred to as a "payoff pitch", since it is likely to be a good pitch for the batter to swing at. With three balls already called by the umpire, the pitcher cannot afford to miss the strike zone, which would result in ball four and a walk for the batter. When there are two outs in an inning, any baserunners susceptible to being putout on a

force play In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled (or ''forced'') to vacate their starting base ( time-of-pitch base) and try to advance to the next base. When a runner is forced to advance to a base, they are forced out if an o ...

will normally run on any 3–2 pitch, even if they are not very fast runners. This is because either the batter will walk thus forcing such runners to advance, strike out to end the inning, foul off the pitch (allowing runners to return to their original bases), or put the ball into play.

Notes

References

{{Baseball Batting (baseball) Baseball pitching Baseball terminology