In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being the rare sport in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is awarded to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional. For example, if a ball strikes a player's leg and bounces off him to another fielder, who tags the baserunner, the first player is credited with an assist. A fielder can receive a maximum of one assist per out recorded. An assist is also awarded if a put-out would have occurred, had not another fielder committed an error. (see also: baseball statistics) Picture of Fenway Park. ... Barry Bonds batting Photo:Agência Brasil In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for ones team. ... In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by PO or fly-ball when appropriate) is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods: tagging a runner with the ball touching a base that a runner on a force play is trying to reach catching... In baseball, baserunning is the act of running around the bases performed by members of the team at bat. ... In baseball, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or runner to reach one or more additional bases, on a play that would normally be completed successfully with ordinary effort. ... Jump to: navigation, search As with many sports, and perhaps even more so, statistics are very important to baseball. ...

If a pitcher records a strikeout and the catcher catches the third strike, the pitcher is not credited with an assist. However, if the batter becomes a baserunner on a dropped third strike and the pitcher is involved in gaining a putout, the pitcher is credited with an assist just as any other fielder would be. A baseball pitcher delivers the ball to home plate In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitchers mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a... In baseball, a strikeout or strike out (denoted by K, K-S, or SO) occurs when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. ... The position of the catcher Catcher is also a general term for a fielder who catches the ball in cricket. ...

Assists are an important statistic for outfielders, as a play often occurs when a baserunner on the opposing team attempts to advance on the basepath when the ball is hit to the outfield (even on a caught fly ball that results in an out; see also: tag up). It is the outfielder's job to field the ball and make an accurate throw to another fielder who is covering the base before the runner reaches it. The fielder then attempts to tag the runner out. This is especially important if the runner was trying to reach home plate, as this assist prevents the baserunner from scoring a run. Assists are much rarer for outfielders than infielders because the play is harder to make, and because outfielder assist situations occur less often than the tradional ground-ball assist for infielders. An outfielder moves in to catch a fly ball Outfielder is a collective term including left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder, the three positions in baseball farthest from the batter. ... In baseball, a runner must tag up if a batted ball is caught in flight. ... In baseball a tag out, sometimes just called a tag, is a play in which a baserunner is out because he is touched by the fielders hand holding a live ball while the runner is in jeopardy. ... Home plate is the final base in baseball and related games that a player must touch to score. ... In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around all three bases and returns safely to home plate. ... An infielder is a baseball player who plays on the infield, the dirt portion of a baseball diamond between first base and third base. ... In baseball, a batted ball can be called one of several various things, depending on how it comes off the bat and where in the field it lands. ...

In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills. Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. ...