The Mysterious Fourth Out

Baseball has numerous interesting and quirky rules. Perhaps none more so than the “Fourth Out Situation,” where an extra out can be made and applied to replace the third out made in an inning.

This episode offers a hypothetical example that is a literal game-changer, and it also recounts two specific incidents in Major League baseball that demonstrate the importance of the rule as well as its rarity in application.

With instant replay now a fixture in MLB, however, the Fourth Out has gained significance, and teams need to recognize that any play “isn’t over until it’s over,” to quote Yankees’ Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra.