New Addition to Regulation IV (i)

An addition to Regulation IV with regard to Minor League Baseball and Minor League Softball will permit a defensive player who has played defensively since the start of a half-inning to be credited with having played for three defensive outs when that half-inning is shortened by the five-run limit.

The addition to Regulation IV (i) below is to take effect on Feb. 15, 2008. It will be included in the 2009 rule books.

Note 3: In Minor League, if a half-inning ends because of the imposition of the five-run limit in “Rule 2.00 – Inning,” and a player on the defense has played for the entire half-inning, that player will be considered to have participated for three consecutive defensive outs for the purposes of this rule. However, if the player has not played on defense for the entire half-inning, that player will be credited only as having played for the number of outs that occurred while the player was used defensively.