How to Teach the Rules of Baseball

To teach the rules of baseball, you'll need to start with the overarching concepts that govern game play and scoring before moving into the more technical fine points of baseball's official rule book. While the fundamental rules of baseball are easy enough to understand, the game's intricacies can get quite complex, so expect to dedicate some time to learning the rules yourself before you attempt to teach them. Read on to learn how to teach the rules of baseball.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Begin by explaining that the object of baseball is to get runners to cross home plate, thereby scoring runs. The team that scores the most runs in nine innings (or more, if the teams are tied after nine innings) wins the game. If your league plays games using fewer innings, teach object of the game principles using your league's standards.

2. Use diagrams to illustrate the basic concepts of a fair ball and a foul ball.

3. Explain fundamental concepts first. You'll need to convey to your students things like what constitutes a ball in play, how a batter or base runner is called safe or out and when a pitcher may and may not throw a pitch before getting down to the more obscure rules.

4. Break your explanations down. Approach the rules of baseball by explaining rules pertaining to the batter, rules pertaining to the base runner, rules pertaining to the fielder and rules pertaining to the pitcher.

5. Explain scoring. Tell your students what constitutes a hit versus an error, for example, and how a balk differs from a walk. Remember to explain the one-to-nine numbering system used to describe the nine different positions played in the field.

6. Move on to less common but important concepts like the dropped third strike and the infield fly rule. In most leagues, a runner is permitted to run to first base as though the ball were put in play if the catcher drops the ball on strike three. Most Little Leagues automatically call out a batter who hits a fly ball in the infield, though Major League Baseball does not.

7. Tackle technical concepts after your students have attained a demonstrated knowledge of the basic rules. Baseball's official rule book is filled with obscure regulations regarding the amount of pine tar permitted on the bat and how it is theoretically possible for a pitcher to record six strikeouts in a single inning. Leave these for the end.

Tips & Warnings

• You can find the complete rules of Major League Baseball on MLB's official website (see Resources below). However, expect that these will be written in technical language that can, at times, be inaccessible to lay people.

Resources

• Official Baseball Rules From MLB

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[Beveronius]

on 2/15/2008 good stuff