What does batting around mean?

[ledzepp8]

You have made it to the front door when you have finished the lap and that is my argument. At that point you have gone "around" the house one time. You can choose to quit at that time without starting a second lap around the house. The moment you then start again and take a step to go around again, you are now starting a new lap. That step doesn't indicate the end of the first lap, but the beginning of a new time around The new lap only begins when you have "completed" one time "around." When the 9th batter in the inning has completed his at-bat, the team has gone through the line-up once and are at the point of starting their second time through the line-up. If the 9th player makes the last out of the inning, you have gone around your line-up one time and have batted around. You are now at the starting point in the lineup at the start of that inning, but the 10th batter has not batted yet. The first time around the line-up is complete. If the ninth player doesn't make the last out, then when the tenth player steps to the plate, the second time around the line-up "begins." The tenth player batting does not end the first time around the line-up. The end of the first time around the line up ends when the 9th hitter finishes his at-bat.

See my argument about batting around twice. It only takes 18 at-bats to bat around twice. So why should it take 10 hitters to bat around once.

But they aren't at the point of starting their second time through the lineup. They are out of the inning until the next time they come to bat. That's our point. If the 9th hitter of the inning makes the third out, that stops the revolution of trying to bat around at #9. The leadoff man coming to bat for the 2nd time in the inning (the 10th batter) is batting around...him completing his at bat is starting the 2nd time through the lineup.

If the team starts the 1st inning going down 1-2-3, have they batted around to the cleanup hitter or have they stopped at the 3rd batter?

[harp6]

But that's our point. If you've only made it to the driveway (9th batter of the inning) and stop there (he makes the 3rd out of the inning), then you haven't made it around the house and back to the front door where you started from (batter that led off inning, comes to bat again).

I will simply things. Suppose you live in a very small house and it takes you 9 steps (9 batters) to get around that small house and you start on the front porch. When you have completed the 9th step, where are you standing? You are not in the driveway, you are on the front porch where you started. You have gone completely "around" the house and are at the starting point and have yet to begin or take the 10th step (10th batter). You could choose to quit there and not go around the house a second time. If you choose to quit, where are you standing? You are on the front porch where you began. You have completed one time "around" the house. If you were to choose to go around again, your next step is the 10th step and it begins the process of the second time around. The 10th step is not part of the original time around the house. The 10th step does not get you back to the starting point, because you were there at the end of the ninth step.

When the 9th player finishes his at-bat in the inning, that is one complete time around the batting line-up. You are back at where you started and the 10th player has yet to step into the batters box and does not need to step into the batters box to have completed the one time around the lineup. The moment the 10th batter steps into the batters box is the beginning of the second time around the line-up.

[Malike]

If Vin Scully says it's 10, then I'm going with 10.

[Oriole1940]

Once around is 9, since there are 9 people in the batting order. The poll should have had the correct answer as an option. That correct answer is 9 or more. Once around is 9. After that if the team is still at the plate, it is still referred to as batting around. If 18 people bat in one inning, it is referred to as batting around twice. This has been common knowledge since baseball was started. The rewriters of history are now rewriting even baseball jargon.

[Malike]

Once around is 9, since there are 9 people in the batting order. The poll should have had the correct answer as an option. That correct answer is 9 or more. Once around is 9. After that if the team is still at the plate, it is still referred to as batting around. If 18 people bat in one inning, it is referred to as batting around twice. This has been common knowledge since baseball was started. The rewriters of history are now rewriting even baseball jargon.

This is really wrong. Really wrong. There is no hard/fast rule about it, and even the people who have been involved in the game for decades are split on whether it is 9 or 10. If it were common knowledge then everyone would have the same opinion, and they clearly don't, and I'm not just talking on message boards, but I'm talking about people in and around the game.

[ledzepp8]

This is really wrong. Really wrong. There is no hard/fast rule about it, and even the people who have been involved in the game for decades are split on whether it is 9 or 10. If it were common knowledge then everyone would have the same opinion, and they cleary don't, and I'm not just talking on message boards, but I'm talking about people in and around the game.

Yep and apparently 65% of people are wrong.

[JayThomas]

Well, the answer to where the term comes from is in the Deadspin article. And the answer is:

10

For the final word, Diamond turned to Major League Baseball?s official historian, who explained that the term ?bat around? comes from a baseball forerunner first played a couple hundred years ago. The definition from that game, called town ball, would seem to indicate that ten batters makes the most sense:

In this cricket-like game, an entire side batted before an inning was over. In at least one variation, Thorn said, there was an added stipulation: If the last player in the order hit a home run, the entire lineup would bat again?or ?bat around.?

This is a really good argument, unless you think about it. A 'round' of batting in that game is one time through the order. In the example you give, the team was allowed to "bat another round", in other words they were allowed to "bat a round" in addition to their normal round; this is quite different from parsing the same phonetics as "bat around". So if you think about it this way, it clearly supports the notion that 9 batters batting is batting a normal round, ie, batting a round, or batting around.

[JayThomas]

Please note that when the 10th batter is reached, before a pitch is thrown to that batter, the team has batted around and only nine players have hit. When the 10th player steps to the plate, the circuit has already been completed because it finished when the 9th player completes his at-bat.

Just like the clock argument that you are supporting is not correct. When the 12th hour is complete, the hour hand is at 12 and has made a complete circle. The start of the 13th hour starts a new circuit. Please note that the 9th hitter has to complete the at-bat to have batted around. If a base runner is caught stealing for the final out of the inning during the 9th players at-bat, then the team did not bat around. If the tenth batter comes to bat and a player is picked off first base for the final out, the team has still batted around even though the 10th batter has not received a pitch. Why? Because all 9 players had one at-bat in the inning. If the team has 18 players complete their at-bat in an inning (WOW), then the team has batted around twice.

When a card game is played, all players play one card and only one card to go around. No players play two cards. In baseball all players have batted one time and only one time in an inning to bat around. Now sometimes a commentator may state that the team has batted around when the ninth player comes to bat, but he is only correct if that ninth player completes his at-bat.

This. Characters.

[JayThomas]

This is really a finite state machine. At all times we are in a single state, with various possible arcs out of it.

When we begin any inning but the first with batter 1 up, it means we are in the state where batter 9 made the last out.

If exactly 9 batters complete an at bat, then we are back in the same state.

So I'm in agreement with the clock divided into 40degree arcs. Leaving a state implies taking an arc. Leaving the state "batter 8 made the last out and there are not 3 outs" brings up batter 9. Even if batter 9 makes an out, it still brings us full circle to the state "batter 9 made the last out".

[OFFNY]

o

(vs. RED SOX, 6/25)

THAT'S batting around.

[Aristotelian]

By the way, in the 19-run game vs the Phillies, I believe Gary did use the term "batting around" for the first inning when the ninth man made the final out of the inning.

[Creamsicle]

SIAP but "batting a round" most likely refers to playing 18 holes of golf using a baseball bat in place of clubs. I read that somewhere.

[Morgan423]

I had always thought it to mean that all nine guys made it up to hit in the same inning.

I'm sold by the fact that when the term was first used in the 1880's it meant nine guys had come up to hit:

https://twitter.com/AmazinAvenue/status/590313712025665536/photo/1

[El Gordo]

If batter 9 is up and batter 8 gets picked off is that batting around? Batter 9 leads off the next inning.

[bobmc]

Two at bats in the same inning, by at least one player. Two at bats... Same guy. Batting around.

What if they pinch hit for him?

Also, does turning the lineup over mean anything to anyone except Jim Hunter? :scratchchinhmm: