HOW DO RUNNERS GET ON BASE?
Players advance to first base for a walk or a single, to second base for a double, to third base for a triple, and to home plate for a home run. Batters cannot advance to first base by being hit by a pitch in Ballpark Classics. If a pitched baseball hits the bat or the knob of the bat and the batter has not moved the bat, the pitch is ruled a ball.

HOW ARE OUTS DETERMINED?
Outs are called when a batter receives a third strike, or if a batted ball comes to rest in fair territory. Both players must inspect a baseball  close to the foul line and agree on whether it is more fair than foul, or more foul than fair. A ball touching the foul line is a fair ball.

HOW DO SINGLES, DOUBLES, AND TRIPLES WORK?
To score singles, doubles, and triples, the batter must hit the ball through a single, double, or triple gate in the outfield fence. Once the baseball crosses through a gate, it is a hit—even if it rolls back through the gate and back on to the field of play. For baseballs that do not completely clear the gate, more than half of the ball must be past the rear plane of the fence or else it is ruled to be in fair territory and an out is recorded.

HOW DO HOME RUNS WORK?
If the batter hits the ball back up the pitching pipe, out of the pipe, and over the fence, then the batter is credited with a home run. If the baseball does not have enough speed to clear the pitching pipe and the fence, and the ball rolls back down onto the field, then the play is judged by where the ball comes to rest. If the pitcher’s hand remains in the pipe after a pitch and the batted ball touches the pitcher’s hand, it is ruled a home run due to pitcher interference.

HOW DO BASE RUNNERS ADVANCE TO OTHER BASES?
 If the batter makes a hit, all base runners advance the same number of bases as the batter. For example, if there is a base runner on second base and the batter hits a single, the runner on second moves to third base and the batter advances to first. If a batter earns a walk, only the base runners forced ahead of the batter advance one base. For example, if there are runners on first and second, they both advance one base on a walk to the batter. If there are runners on first and third, only the runner on first base advances. If there are runners on second and third base and no runner on first, if the batter walks he or she advances to first and  the other base runners remain where they are.

HOW ARE RUNS SCORED?
Every base runner that advances to home plate scores a run for the team at bat. For example, if a batter hits a triple with a runner on first, the batter goes to third and the runner on first advances to home plate and scores. A home run scores one run for the batter and one run for each base runner that scores ahead of the batter.

HOW DO TEAMS KEEP SCORE?
Runs are tracked for the home and visiting teams by turning the home and visitor scoring disks located just outside of the foul lines near the outfield fences.

HOW ARE OUTS TRACKED?
Outs are tracked by placing one, two, or three  baseballs in the three round trays on the left side of the ball return cover located behind home plate. You can also use one ball, and move it among the three trays. 

HOW ARE BASE RUNNERS TRACKED?
Like on TV, runners are tracked by placing baseballs in the round trays on the right side of the ball return cover.

HOW ARE INNINGS TRACKED?
Keep track of innings by placing the provided inning peg in a hole on the left side of the ball return cover. A peg in the upper position above the number “5,” for example, means that the game is currently in the top (the visitor’s half) of the fifth inning.

KEEPING THE BOOK
The Ballpark Classics experience has been thoughtfully designed to minimize the effort to track a game and to keep play moving quickly. In league situations, however, you may wish to score your games using a scorecard. You can track batting average, ERA, and other statistics for your teams. Photocopy the included scorecard from your Official Rules insert, or purchase baseball score books at sporting goods stores. You may also download scorecards for free at www.baseballscorecard.com and print them.