What to do in different baseball situations by John T. Reed

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There is a consensus among baseball people that certain actions should be taken in certain baseball situations. These actions are also supported by logic, probability, and statistics. Here is an attempt to summarize those rules.

Count

	0 strikes	1 strike	2 strikes
0 balls	swing only at hitter's pitches	swing only at hitter's pitches	throw only pitchers pitches or balls do not hit and run, make sure any bunt is fair If 2 out, all forced runners go on swing
1 ball	swing only at hitter's pitches	swing only at hitter's pitches	if 2 out, all forced runners go on swing make sure any bunt is fair
2 balls	swing only at hitter's pitches	swing only at hitter's pitches	if 2 out, all forced runners go on swing make sure any bunt is fair
3 balls	swing only at hitter's pitches	swing only at hitter's pitches	if 2 out, all forced runners go on pitch make sure any bunt is fair

Last inning, tying run...

	at plate	at 1st	at 2nd	at 3rd
0 out	base runners wait for batter to move them around	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use infield technique on grounders	infield in to throw runner out at home outfield let foul fly drop; use do-or-die technique on grounders and flies
1 out	base runners wait for batter to move them around	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use infield technique on grounders	infield in to throw runner out at home outfield let foul fly drop; use do-or-die technique on grounders and flies
2 out	base runners wait for batter to move them around	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use do-or-die technique on grounders maximum aggressiveness by base runner at 3rd

Last inning, go-ahead run...

	at plate	at 1st	at 2nd	at 3rd
0 out	base runners wait for batter move them around	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use infield technique on grounders	infield in to throw runner out at home outfield let foul fly drop ; use do-or-die technique on grounders and flies
1 out	base runners wait for batter move them around	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield in to throw out tagging runner outfield let foul fly drop; use do-or-die technique on grounders and flies
2 out	base runners wait for batter move them around	outfield use infield technique on grounders	outfield use infield technique on grounders	normal defense positions outfield use do-or-die technique on grounders maximum aggressiveness by base runner at 3rd

Runner has base stolen

	0 strikes	1 strike	2 strikes
batter should	take the pitch	take the pitch	protect the strike zone

Runner at 3rd stealing home

	0 strikes	1 strike	2 strikes
batter should	show bunt then take the pitch	show bunt then take the pitch	bunt fair if strike

Lead at...

	1st	2nd	3rd
0 out	on base line	on base line, if forced; 3 feet behind baseline if not	lead off in foul territory, return in fair
1 out	on base line	on base line, if forced; 3 feet behind baseline if not	lead off in foul territory, return in fair
2 out	on base line	on base line, if forced; 10 feet behind baseline if not	lead off in foul territory, return in fair

Infield pop with runners at...

	0 out	1 out	2 out
no runners	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
1st	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, force runner at second and maybe first runner tag up, advance if ball not caught	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, force runner at second and maybe first	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
1st & 2nd	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, tag out any advancing runners runner tag up; no force because of infield fly rule, may advance if opportunity	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, tag out any advancing runners runner tag up; no force because of infield fly rule, may advance if opportunity	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
1st, 2nd, & 3rd	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, tag out any advancing runners runner tag up; no force because of infield fly rule, may advance if opportunity	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, tag out any advancing runners runner tag up; no force because of infield fly rule, may advance if opportunity	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
2nd	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
2nd & 3rd	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
1st & 3rd	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, force runner at 2nd and maybe first, tag advancing runner from 3rd runner at 1st tag up, advance if ball not caught; runner at 3rd tag up	fielder catch foul pops; let fair pops hit ground, field ball, tag out any advancing runners	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops
3rd	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops	fielder catch all pops except 3rd strike bunt foul pops

Outfield grounder technique

	not last inning or last inning and ahead by 2 or more	trailing, tied, or ahead by 1 in last inning
no runners	on one knee	on one knee
runner at 1st or 2nd	infielder technique	do or die
runner at 3rd	on one knee	do or die

If any readers spot any errors or omissions in these tables, please tell me.

Good luck,

John T. Reed