Dugout (baseball)
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In baseball, the dugout is a team's bench and is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or third base. There are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team. In general, the dugout is occupied by all players not prescribed to be on the field at that particular time, as well as coaches and other personnel authorized by the league. The players' equipment (gloves, bats, batting helmets, catcher's equipment, etc.) is usually stored in the dugout.
In baseball, the manager, with the help of his assistants, will dictate offensive strategy from the dugout by sending hand signals to the first and third base coaches. To avoid detection, the first and third base coaches will then translate those hand signals into their own set of hand signals and then send them on to the batter and runners.
Origin
The term dugout refers to the area being slightly depressed below field level, as is common in professional baseball. The prevailing theory of the origin of locating the dugouts below field level is that it allowed spectators seated behind the dugouts to see the field, specifically the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/West_Side_Grounds_1905.jpg/220px-West_Side_Grounds_1905.jpg)
Not all dugouts are located below the field level. At the major league level, the few dugouts that are located at the field level are in multi-purpose stadiums to simplify the conversion from baseball configuration to another sports field configuration. At such ballparks, the seating area is raised such that the dugouts do not obstruct the spectators' view. Dugouts are also at field level at most amateur ballparks, where locating them below field level would be cost prohibitive or otherwise not beneficial. In these cases, the term "dugout" still applies, as does "bench." In the early days of professional baseball, the seating areas were often constructed high enough that the bench was at field level.
Variations
Most professional and collegiate ballparks feature dugouts that are below the field level, with concrete steps along the entire length of the dugout. Some feature a railing along the top step, or "lip", while others are open.
In most Major League Baseball ballparks, as well as many minor league ballparks, the dugout is directly connected to the clubhouse by a tunnel.
Most high school,
Historic Cardines Field in Newport, Rhode Island, home of the Newport Gulls, features both dugouts on the first base side.
Official rules
MLB rule 3.17[1] specifies that "no one except players, substitutes, managers, coaches, athletic trainers and batboys shall occupy a bench during a game." The rule also stipulates that players on the injured list are allowed in the dugout, but may not enter the field of play at any time during the game. Players and coaches who have been ejected from the game may not remain in the dugout per Rule 4.07.[2]
Unlike most other sports, where a ball or puck entering a team's bench area has already passed out of bounds and is thus dead before it reaches the bench, it is possible in baseball for a dugout to be a factor in play. MLB rule 6.05(a) states that a fielder may reach into a dugout to catch a fly ball as long as one or both feet is on or over the playing field, and does not have a foot on the ground in the dugout when making the catch. MLB universal ground rules state that the player may subsequently enter the dugout after making the catch if his momentum is carrying him that way, but if he falls in the dugout as a result, the catch is allowed but baserunners advance in accordance with Rule 7.04(c).[3]
A
Dugout choice in MLB
Which team occupies the dugout on the first-base side or the third-base side is purely arbitrary. The
In both the National League and American League, more home team dugouts are on the first-base side (9 to 6 each). Even the two oldest parks still in use differ on this point: the Cubs sit on the third-base side at Wrigley while the Red Sox inhabit the first-base dugout at Fenway. Due to the ballpark's orientation, at Wrigley the third-base dugout faces away from the sun from noon onward, whereas the first base dugout faces sunlight in the late innings. At Fenway, the third-base dugout faces the sun for part of a day game, while the first-base dugout remains shaded.
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
References
- ^ Official Rules: Game Preliminaries
- ^ Official Rules: Starting & Ending the Game
- ^ Official Rules: The Runner
- ^ "Ballpark Comparison". Miami: MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2010-08-16.