At bat

Not to be confused with Plate appearance.

In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during his turn at bat. A batter is only credited with an at bat if that plate appearance does not have one of the results enumerated below. While at bats are used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, a player can only qualify for the season-ending rankings in these categories if he accumulates 502 plate appearances during the season.^[1]

A batter will not receive credit for an at bat if their plate appearance ends under the following circumstances:

He receives a base on balls (BB).^[2]
He is hit by a pitch (HBP).
He hits a sacrifice fly or a sacrifice hit (also known as sacrifice bunt).
He is awarded first base due to interference or obstruction, usually by the catcher.
The inning ends while he is still at bat (due to the third out being made by a runner caught stealing, for example). In this case, the batter will come to bat again in the next inning, though the count will be reset to no balls and no strikes.
He is replaced by another hitter before his at bat is completed (unless he is replaced with two strikes and his replacement completes a strikeout).

Section 10.02.a.1 of the official rules of Major League Baseball defines an at bat as: "Number of times batted, except that no time at bat shall be charged when a player: (1) hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly; (2) is awarded first base on four called balls; (3) is hit by a pitched ball; or (4) is awarded first base because of interference or obstruction..."^[3]

Examples

An at bat is counted when:

The batter reaches first base on a hit
The batter reaches first base on an error
The batter is called out for any reason other than as part of a sacrifice
There is a fielder's choice

At bat as a phrase

"At bat", "up", "up at bat", and "at the plate" are all phrases describing a batter who is facing the pitcher. Note that just because a player is described as being "at bat" in this sense, he will not necessarily be given an at bat in his statistics; the phrase actually signifies a plate appearance (assuming it is eventually completed). This ambiguous terminology is usually clarified by context. To refer explicitly to the technical meaning of "at bat" described above, the term "official at bat" is sometimes used.

References

↑ Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www.baseballexplained.com
↑ In 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result was high batting averages, including some near .500, and the experiment was abandoned the following season.
↑ "Rule 10.01: The Rules of Scoring" (PDF). Official Baseball Rules. Commissioner of Baseball, Major League Baseball. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-25.

Baseball concepts

Field	Backstop Baseball diamond Batter's box Batter's eye Bullpen Dugout Foul territory Foul pole Infield On-deck circle Outfield Warning track

Equipment	Ball Bat Batting cage Batting glove Batting helmet Cap Doughnut Glove (defense) Pitching machine Protective cup Shin guard Stirrups Uniform Uniform number

Game process	Batting order Extra innings Innings On-deck Out Run Seventh-inning stretch

Batting	At bat Baltimore chop Chinese home run Batting count Bunt Checked swing Cleanup hitter Designated hitter Double Double switch Foul ball Foul tip Grand slam Ground rule double Hit Hit and run Hit by pitch Hitting for the cycle Home run Infield hit Inside-the-park home run Leadoff hitter Lefty-righty switch Line drive Moonshot Plate appearance Platoon system Pull hitter Sacrifice bunt Sacrifice fly Single Slap bunt Strikeout Strike zone Sweet spot Triple Walk Walk-off home run

Pitching	Balk Beanball Breaking ball Brushback pitch Changeup Curveball Fastball Full count Inside pitching Knuckleball No-hitter Passed ball Perfect game Pitch count Pitchout Quick pitch Shutout Slider Spitball Strikeout Striking out the side Time of pitch Wild pitch

Baserunning	Balk Bases loaded Caught stealing Contact play Left on base Safe Scoring position Slide Small ball Squeeze play Stolen base Tag up

Fielding	Appeal play Assist Catch Defensive indifference Double play Error Fielder's choice Force play Fourth out Hidden ball trick Infield shift In-between hop Pickoff Rundown Tag out Triple play Unassisted triple play Wall climb Wheel play

Miscellaneous	Bench jockey Bench-clearing brawl Blocking the plate Dead ball Golden sombrero Ground rules Baseball jargon In flight Infield fly rule Interference Pepper Shagging Slump Uncaught third strike

Outline Glossary Category

At bat

Examples

At bat as a phrase

References

See also