Scoring position

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In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra-base hit, while a runner on second or third can usually score on a single. Many of baseball's "small ball" or "one run" tactics center on attempts to move a runner on base into scoring position. Such tactics were dominant in the 1890s and the dead-ball era, when extra-base hits were relatively rare. Runners in scoring position are sometimes colloquially referred to as "ducks on the pond".

Runners left in scoring position refers to the number of runners on second or third at the end of an inning and is an inverse measure of a team's offensive efficiency.