Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A double is a type of hit (the others being the single, triple and home run) and is sometimes called a "two-bagger" or "two-base hit". For statistical and scorekeeping purposes it is denoted by 2B.

Typically, a double is a well-hit ball into the outfield that finds the "gap" between the center fielder and one of the corner outfielders, bounces off the outfield wall and down into the field of play, or is hit up one of the two foul lines. To hit many doubles, a batter must have decent hitting skill and power; it also helps to run well enough to beat an outfield throw. Many of the best double hitting batters were revered for high baseball IQ and the ability to slide well and turn a single into an extra-base hit.

Doubles typically drive in runs from third base, second base, and even from first base at times. When total bases and slugging percentages are calculated, the number two is used for the calculation.

Teams sometimes position their fielders in a "no doubles" defense, meaning:

This defensive alignment is typically seen late in a game, when the team in the field is ahead by one or two runs.

Renowned doubles hitters occasionally acquire a nickname that relates to their doubles hitting, for example "Mitchy Two Bags" (Mitch Moreland) and "Tony Two Bags" (Anthony Rendon).

A two-base hit awarded by an umpire when a batted ball is hit fairly and bounces out of play is referred to as a ground rule double. The batter is awarded second base and any runners advance two bases from the base they occupied at the time of the pitch. Prior to 1931, such hits were considered home runs. A two-base hit awarded because the batter hit into a special situation defined in the ground rules is also defined as a ground rule double. An example of this occurs where the rules of Chicago's Wrigley Field award a ground rule double if a batted ball is lost in the vines on the outfield bleacher wall. At the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, umpires awarded Dave Kingman a ground rule double in a 1984 game, when a ball he hit became stuck in the roof, although no specific ground rule existed for that situation at the Metrodome at the time.

The all-time leader in doubles is Tris Speaker, with 792. The following players are the top 10 Major League doubles hitters of all-time: