The GEAYA Youth Baseball Glossary

Let's get the game started in the right way!

Below is a list of terms that you can review with your players to help them understand more about the amazing game of baseball! This is a working list of terms, and we will add more as we get them, so keep coming back to review new additions!

The Basics on the Field

• Home Plate: The five-sided white rubber mat where the batter stands to hit, and the final base a runner must touch to score a point.
• Inning: A part of the game where both teams get a turn to bat and a turn to play defense. Once both teams get 3 outs, the inning is over!
• Strike Zone: The imaginary box over home plate that goes from the batter's knees up to their chest. If a pitch goes through this box, it is a strike.
• Count: The scoreboard tracking how many balls and strikes the current batter has (for example: "1 ball and 2 strikes").
• Full Count: When the batter has 3 balls and 2 strikes. The very next pitch is going to be super important!

Hitting the Ball

• Bunt: When a batter does not take a big swing, but instead holds the bat out flat to gently tap the ball right in front of home plate.
• Fly Ball: A ball that is hit high up into the air.
• Ground Ball (Grounder): A ball that is hit hard and rolls or bounces along the dirt or grass.
• Foul Ball: A ball hit outside the white chalk lines of the playing field. It counts as a strike unless the batter already has two strikes.
• Power Hitter: A strong batter who is really good at hitting the ball far, deep into the outfield.
• Cleanup: The fourth batter in the lineup. They are usually a power hitter whose job is to hit the ball hard and bring home any runners on base (cleaning them off the bases!).
• Grand Slam: The ultimate home run! It happens when a batter hits a home run while there are runners on first, second, and third base, scoring 4 points at once.

Running the Bases

• On Deck: The next player who gets to bat. They stand in a safe spot near the dugout to practice their swings and get ready.
• Lead Runner: The base runner who is closest to scoring a run at home plate.
• Load the Bases: When the batting team gets runners onto first, second, and third base all at the same time.
• Runners at the Corners: When a team has base runners on first base and third base, but second base is empty.
• Scoring Position: When a base runner is standing on second or third base. They are close enough to run home and score if the batter gets a good hit.
• Tag Up: If a batter hits a high fly ball, a base runner must stay on their base until the fielder catches it. As soon as the ball touches the fielder's glove, the runner can "tag" their base and sprint to the next one.
• Walk: When a pitcher throws 4 pitches outside of the strike zone (called "balls"), the batter gets to walk safely to first base without even swinging.

Making Plays on Defense

• Double Play: A great defensive play where the fielding team gets two base runners out on the exact same play.
• Error: When a defensive player accidentally drops the ball or makes a mistake that lets a runner stay safe when they should have been out.
• Strikeout: When a batter gets three strikes and is called out.
• Relay: When an outfielder throws the ball to an infielder, who quickly throws it to a base to get a runner out. It is like a teamwork chain!

Strategy & Substitutions

• Batting Average: A calculation that shows how often a batter gets a hit. The higher the number, the better they are at hitting!
• RBI (Run Batted In): A statistic a batter earns when their hit successfully helps a teammate run across home plate to score a point.
• Pinch Hitter: A teammate who comes off the bench to bat in place of someone else.
• Pinch Runner: A fast teammate who enters the game to run the bases in place of a runner who is already on base.
• Position Player: Any player on the field who is not the pitcher or the catcher (like the shortstop or the outfielders).

Pro Terms (Simplified for Young Learners)

The following are more advanced or professional terms. Your players will not encounter them often until they get older, but here is how to explain them if they hear them on TV:

• Bullpen: The special warm-up area where pitchers throw practice pitches before they enter the game.
• Reliever (Relief Pitcher): A pitcher who comes into the game later to give the starting pitcher a break.
• Battery: The nickname for the Pitcher and the Catcher working together as a tight unit for every pitch.
• Changeup: A tricky pitch that looks like a fastball when the pitcher throws it, but is actually much slower to confuse the batter.
• Designated Hitter: A player in the big leagues who only gets to bat and does not have to play defense on the field.
• Hit for the Cycle: An amazing game where a single batter manages to hit a single, a double, a triple, and a home run all in the same game.
• Hit and Run: A sneaky team play where a base runner starts sprinting to the next base the exact second the pitcher throws the ball, and the batter tries hard to hit it.
• Pitch Around: When a pitcher purposely throws balls outside the strike zone to a really good hitter because they would rather give them a walk than risk letting them hit a home run.
• Balk: An illegal mistake made by a pitcher when they pretend they are about to throw the ball but stop. If they do this, all base runners get to move up one base for free.

Park Fundamentals (Ages 4-8)

These are fundamental baseline terms that younger kids hear constantly at our home fields:

• Force Out: An out made when a base runner must run to the next base because another runner is coming up behind them, and the defense steps on the base with the ball before they get there.
• Tag Out: When a fielder touches a running player with the ball (or the glove holding the ball) when the runner is not standing safely on a base.
• Dugout: The fenced-in bench area where the players sit with their coaches, helmets, and bats while waiting for their turn to hit.
• Tee: The tall stand used in T-Ball to hold the baseball still so young players can practice making great contact with their swing.
• Outfield: The big, grassy area far away from the batter where the Left Fielder, Center Fielder, and Right Fielder stand to catch long hits.
• Infield: The diamond-shaped area of dirt and grass closest to the batter that includes home plate, 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base, the pitcher's mound, and the catcher's box.