Ground rule double

"Automatic double" redirects here. For the analogue recording technique, see Automatic double tracking.
Outfielders raising their arms, due to the baseball going under or becoming stuck in the fence, resulting in a ground rule double.

A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a condition of the ground rules in effect at the field where the game is being played. An automatic double is the term used to refer to a fairly hit ball leaving the field in circumstances that do not merit a home run, such as when the ball's first bounce was within the field. The automatic double (or rule-book double) is commonly called a ground rule double.[1]

  1. ^ Dickson, Paul (2011). The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (Third ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 390. ISBN 978-0-393-07349-2.