[removed]
Single: you hit the ball and get to 1st base safely.
Double: you hit the ball and get to 2nd base safely.
Triple: you hit the ball and get to 3rd base safely.
Not as simple. Say you have a runner at first and you hit the ball into the outfield. Outfielder throws it to third base, allowing you to make it to second safely. That would count as a single. You also have errors allowing you to take an extra base or two, etc.
A hit where the batter reaches first only is a single. Reaching second is a double. Reaching third is a triple. If a fielder makes an error during the play and the runner advances because of it, the hit is deemed the lesser base.
How have you not been able to find this on Google? Guy hits ball. Gets to 1st base single. Hit ball and gets straight to 2nd- double. Hits ball gets straight to 3rd - triple
I’m actually confused at what part of this you’re finding difficult.
You hit the ball. You run the bases. If your hit allows you to get to first base it’s a single. To second, it’s a double. To third, it’s a triple.
The only real complication is that if you have a hit that “should have” only allowed you to get to, say, second, but the fielding team messes up and you’re able to get to third, You might be credited with a double and the fielding team charged with an error. But that’s really the only thing that can get a little confusing.
It's literally how far the hitter manages to run in the time he has before he gets tagged by the ball. Single = 1 base, double = 2 bases, triple = 3 bases.
*or when they get to the base safely
Does it still count if they get tagged out?
No
If they get tagged out, they do not get there safely, so no.
If you hit the ball and get tagged out at 2nd, then you are credited with a single and are out trying to advance. After you have touched first base safely it's considered a hit. If you touch first and get to another base because a fielder made a mistake (bad throw, dropped the ball, etc) that would still be a single and you advance to another base on the error.
It’s how many bases you gain on your at-bat (so doesn’t include if you steal bases later). If you make it to first it’s a single, second is a double, third is a triple, and all the way around is a home run (regardless of if the ball goes over the fence or not).
The base you get to when you hit, single you get to first base, double to second base, etc
If the batter hits the ball and gets to first base on the play, it's a single.
If the batter gets to second base on the play, it's a double.
If the batter gets to third base on the play, it's a triple.
If the batter gets all the way home on the play, it's a home run.
If the play ends, but on a different play (different batter) the guy gets to the next base, that doesn't change the fact that they got a single (or whatever) originally.
There can be funny things like "got a single, went to second base because of a fielding error" all on one play. That would be counted as just a single. But that's not what normally happens.
It’s based on how far one gets after hitting the ball. If the batter gets to first and stops, it’s a single, if they get to second it’s double, if they make it to third, it’s a triple. If the runner makes it past a bag and gets tagged at next one, they’re still credited with the bases they safely passed, so somebody who hits the ball into the gap, runs past first base but gets thrown out at second base is credited with a single.
At the highest level:
If, as a hitter, you put the ball in play and reach first base, that's a single.
If you advance to second base on the hit, that's a double.
If you advance to third, that's a triple.
Note that only what happens during the batter's "at-bat" matters here. If a batter hits a single and then continues to advance around the bases, it's still just a single.
For example: let's say Jasson Dominguez is the first hitter of the inning for the Yankees.
He hits a bouncing ball through the infield and reaches first base - that's a single.
The next batter is Aaron Judge. He hits a line drive off the wall and is able to reach second base on the play. That's a double. Dominguez advances to third base on the play.
The next batter is Giancarlo Stanton. He hits a ball over the outfield wall for a home run. Judge and Dominguez also score.
So... that's one single, one double, and one home run, but three runs.
A couple of exceptions, just to make it more complicated:
If a batter reaches base because one of the fielders makes a mistake -- drops a ball, makes a bad throw, etc. -- that's called an error. That does not count as a hit for the batter.
And if a batter reaches base because the fielders chose to get a baserunner out instead, that's called a fielder's choice and also doesn't count as a hit.
In baseball, there are four “bases” - first base, second base, third base, and home plate.
Singles, doubles, and triples are different types of “hits.” A hit is when a batter hits the ball so that the ball lands in a place where none of the players on the fielding team can get to it before the batter reaches (at least) first base safely (or before the fielding team can catch it on a fly).
A single is when the batter reaches first base through a hit and stops there (does not go on to second base). Generally, a hitter will stop at first base on a hit because if they try to go to second base, the fielding team will be able to get them out before they reach that base. This is because singles are usually not hit very far - a typical single would be a batter hitting a ground ball in between two infielders. So the ball rolls to the outfielder, giving the batter time to get to first safely, but if batter tried to go to second base, they would probably be tagged out before they got there - the fielding team already picked the ball up and threw it to second base (to make sure the batter doesn’t go there).
A double is when the batter goes to second base (after touching first base) through a hit and stops there. Typically, a double is hit to a place on the field where it is harder/takes longer for the fielding team to get to the ball - maybe the batter hit the ball really hard and it went over the outfielder’s heads and off the outfield wall. So the batter is willing to go further than first base - to second base - because they think they have time to get there before the fielding team can tag them out.
A triple is when the batter goes to third base through a hit (after touching first base and second base) and stops there. Triples are pretty rare relative to singles and doubles - typically, it takes a batter who is a fast runner and who hit the ball in a way that makes it really difficult for the fielding team to get to quickly. For example, some stadiums have very deep parts of the outfield - if a fast batter hits a ball right into that gap and it rolls all the way to the wall, they may try to take the risk of getting all the way to third base. If they get there safely, it’s a triple.
Simple. Assuming that the fielders did not make an error (i.e. throwing the ball away, failing to catch a ball they attempted to catch) then a single = you made it to first base, a double = you made it to second base and a triple = you made it to third base. If you make it to first base and get thrown out trying to reach second, its a single. Or if you made it to second base and get thrown out trying to reach third, its a double. Only real exception to that is if you hit the ball and the defense attempts to throw out another runner, allowing you to make it one or two bases past where you would have made it had they not.
So far, every person mocking OP for his question is only saying "it only matters the number of bases you reach when you hit the ball"
The other 2 are saying if you reach an extra base because of an error, it counts as the lesser base count, and won't explain why.
The reason is this ... the single/double/triple is sort of ranking how good the HIT was. If you hit it so far and into a gap between fielders, you can run far enough to get a s/d/t. So the hit was good enough to get you that far, and by implication, anyone on the bases when you hit the ball also has moved that far.
If a fielder gets the ball and could have at that point thrown the ball to the shortstop, who would have halted you at second base, but ... he drops the ball (makes an error) and you run to third base ... well you advanced yourself three bases (and everyone in front of you that was already on a base), but it wasn't due to the quality of the hit. The hit itself was a double, because you could safely run all the way to second base from the sheer quality of your hit. BUT due to the error you are on third. If the fielder didn't make a mistake, it would have been a double. So you don't get credit for the other teams mistakes (stats wise anyway, of course you benefit by being able to move up an extra base and maybe even scoring a few runs!).
So ... the single/double/triple is the quality of your hit if the other team made no mistakes. If you make it further due to a mistake by the other team, well that didn't make your hit any better, so you don't get to take credit for that.
Why does it matter? Baseball is two games in one. It's the game that's being played where you hit a ball and then you run around the bases. The highest score wins. Simple. The second game is all about statistics and this is where players are evaluated and weighed against other players on all teams and the "game" is about creating the best team from all the available players, given the money that the team has. So team building is the other "game". Coaches and owners look at all the stats ... who hits the most doubles? Who makes too many errors,e tc. It's all about statistics and that's why you don't give a guy a triple even if he gets on third base... it's because that stat does not reflect his ability.
I really appreciate the response! It's truly interesting how some baseball stats seem to have a subjective aspect to them.
It feels like a hit that would have the quality of a double, but where the fielder makes a great play and turns it into a single(or a triple to a double), or maybe the runner is slow. In that case the hit would only be worth the base that was reached, right?
I'm very much a casual watcher so it's not something I worry about but will always enjoy discussing if brought up. I was mostly trying to point out how replies so far had been very unhelpful.
Errors, Interference, Sacrifices, and Fielder's Choices all contribute to the confusion I think.
3/4 are subjective and therefore open to interpretation and lead to most confusion. Sacrifices and FCs are more straight forward, but no less confusing to a novice or someone newly introduced to the game.
Error: The fielder made a gaffe which allowed the play to continue (often resulting in 1 or more bases for the runner and/or a player already on base.) You can commit an error and still get the batter out, although this is rare in practice.
Interference: Most commonly ruled a double for fan interference, but the umpires get to decide the result based on what they believe the result of the play would have been had the interference not occurred.
Sacrifice:The batter may reach first or second base while the ball is in the air and still be called out if the fielder catches the ball before it hits the ground. If another runner tags up and advances after the ball is caught this is known as a sacrifice instead of a fly out.
FC: A judgement call based on whether the umpire believes a fielder Could Have made a play to get the batter out, but they instead chose to get a different baserunner out.
Thank you for the response, very insightful!
Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):
ELI5 is not for straightforward answers or facts - ELI5 is for requesting an explanation of a concept, not a simple straightforward answer. This includes topics of a narrow nature that don’t qualify as being sufficiently complex per rule 2.
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the detailed rules first. If you believe this submission was removed erroneously, please use this form and we will review your submission.