21st Century Townball
Official Rules
21st Century Townball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams according to the rules herein outlined:
1. Each team shall consist of thirteen players, one of which shall be captain, who shall represent the team in every respect.
2. Umpires shall be designated in a method agreeable to both captains to officiate the game, in order to ensure fair play and legal enforcement of these rules.
3. Before play commences, the captains of the teams shall agree upon the boundaries that form the area of play.
4. Before play commences, the captains of the teams shall agree upon any rule changes to this set of rules that will be played by for the duration of the game, and shall inform the umpires of the same.
5. The ball shall be composed of rubber, wrapped in yarn, covered in leather, stitched together, measure ten inches in circumference, and weigh six ounces avoirdupois.
6. The bat shall be cylindrically shaped and made of wood, the thickest part thereof not exceeding two and three quarters of an inch in diameter, and shall be of any length so as to suit the batter.
7. Fielders’ gloves must measure no more than three inches in length from the base of the fingers to the tip, and no more than eight inches in width from the side of the index finger closest to the thumb, to the side of the pinkie farthest from the same.
8. The playing field shall be a square marked out by five cylindrical wooden stakes inserted upright into the ground, each of which being at least two feet in length and one inch in diameter.
9. First stake shall be forty two feet from the batting point, second stake sixty eight feet from first, third stake one hundred ten feet from second, fourth one hundred ten feet from third, and the home stake one hundred ten feet from fourth, all laid out in right angles from the batting point to home, in a counterclockwise direction.
10. The pitching line shall be fifty-two feet from and parallel to the line formed by the batting point and first stake, on the side of said line that contains second.
11. The teams shall alternate between batting and fielding. Each time the teams switch between batting and fielding, and then from fielding to batting, will constitute an inning.
12. Each inning will consist of one out per side.
13. If at any point at the end of an inning, one of the teams is leading the other by at least five runs after having scored at least eight, or has scored a total of at least thirteen runs, then that team shall be considered the winner. In the case that both teams have exceeded thirteen runs in the same inning, then the team with the higher score at the end of that inning wins. In the case that there is a tie at the end of that inning, then the game will continue one inning at a time until there is no longer a tie at the end of an inning. The team with the higer score at the end of that inning wins.
14. Each team shall, when fielding, clearly designate one of its players to pitch. The fielding team can change pitchers at any time during the game. The rest of the fielders must all remain in the playing area for every pitch while fielding.
15. Each team shall, when batting, send their players in turn to the batting point to bat. A batter is said to have batted if he has either reached first stake safely or is out. Each time every member on a team has batted shall constitute a round. No batter may bat twice in a round.
16. If a batter who has been pitched to has not batted before an inning ends, he shall resume his at-bat in the subsequent inning with a new count of strikes.
17. A run is scored when a member of the batting team legally advances through the stakes, from the batting point to the home stake, making physical contact with each.
18. Stakerunners must advance or retreat from stake to stake in succession.
19. A stakerunner shall not be considered safe on a stake that a previous runner has not yet progressed to.
20. A pitch is a legal toss or throw in the batter’s direction.
21. For every batter that the pitcher faces, the pitcher must wait until the batter is ready before throwing the first pitch.
22. For every pitch, the pitcher may not make physical contact with the ground on the side of the pitching line that contains the batting point until after he releases the ball.
23. The batter may not legally attempt to advance to first stake until after at least one ball has been pitched to him. Once one ball has been pitched to the batter, no previous stakerunners may retreat safely to the batter’s box.
24. There shall be a fourteen inch wide by twenty four and a half inch high rectangular zone facing the pitcher placed five feet behind the batting point, the bottom of which being fourteen and a half inches from the ground, for which if the ball is legally pitched into without first hitting the ground, a fielder, or the batter, or in the case the ball would have hit the zone, except that the batter interfered with the pitch by causing his body to obstruct the path of the ball, the batter is out.
25. If a batter attempts to advance to first stake without hitting the ball, and if the ball is pitched into the zone before the batter reaches first stake, then the batter is out.
26. If the batter hits the zone with his bat while batting then the batter is out.
27. There shall be an eight by five foot batters box, measured five feet behind the batting line and four feet on either side of the batting point. If a fielder enters the batter’s box at any time during a pitch while the batter is in the batter’s box before the ball hits the zone, passes the plane formed by the zone, hits the batter, is hit by the batter, or comes to a complete stop, then the batter shall be awarded an automatic homerun.
28. If a batter or stakerunner is touching the ground within the batter’s box, or is in physical contact with a stake that he has legally progressed to, he shall be considered safe.
29. A batter or stakerunner that is hit by the ball while not safe, shall be out.
30. A stakerunner tagged by a fielder with his glove possessing the ball while he is not safe, shall be out, provided that the fielder maintains possession of the ball until the conclusion of the play.
31. If two runners occupy the same stake, then neither are considered safe.
32. If a stake runner intentionally makes contact with two stakes at once, he is out.
33. If while in the process of advancing from stake to stake, a stakerunner either dislodges or causes a stake to fall over, then the stakerunner must set that stake back upright at the place where it was originally stationed before he may legally advance to the next stake. If a stakerunner knocks over more than one stake during his progression from stake to stake, then he must return each stake to an upright position, starting with the stake that he last knocked over before resuming advancement starting from the stake he last set back up.
34. If a stake falls over after a runner had already advanced to the next stake, then the stake will not be considered to have been knocked over by that runner.
35. If a stakerunner exits the agreed upon playing area while stakerunning, he is out.
36. If in the opinion of the umpire a fielder not associated with a play intentionally obstructs the path of a stakerunner, then the stake runner shall be granted the stake to which he was attempting to advance or retreat to, or in the case that in the umpires opinion the runner would have advanced more than one stake on the play, then the corresponding number of stakes shall be granted him.
37. If a batter or stakerunner intentionally handles the ball while in play, then the batter or stakerunner is out.
38. If the batter attempts to hit the ball with his bat and misses, and if a member of the opposing team catches the ball on that pitch without it first hitting the ground, then a strike shall be called against the batter.
39. If the batter hits the ball and does not attempt to advance to first, then a strike shall be called against the batter.
40. A third strike caught in the air is an out.
41. A batted ball caught in the air is an out.
42. If a batter hits the ball with the bat on the third strike, then the batter is obligated to attempt to advance at least to first stake, provided that the batter has not already flown out or zoned out on the hit. If another runner occupies first stake on the third strike that has been hit by the batter, then the runner on first must advance to second, and likewise for any runner on any subsequent stake for which the runner is forced to run by a runner behind him who is also forced to advance to the stake that the subsequent runner is occupying.
43. If a batter or a runner is forced to run on a third strike, then such a runner can be put out if a fielder knocks the stake to which the batter or runner is forced to advance to with the ball, whether thrown, tagged, or with a hand or glove that possesses the ball.
44. If a batter attempts to hit the ball more than once for any given pitch, then the batter is out.
45. If a pitcher delivers an illegal pitch to a batter, then a strike, a zone out or a fly out cannot be called against the batter on the pitch.
46. If a pitcher takes a step toward the batting point so as to pitch the ball to the batter, then the pitcher must pitch the ball before any of the stakerunners can be put out.
47. In the case that a ball pitched to the batter hits the batter, then the ball shall be in play without any reservations. Similarly, if a pitched ball hits any part of the zone other than at the rectangle, or on the case that the ball bounces on the ground or off the batter and then his the rectangle, that ball shall be considered to be in play. If a batter attempts to hit a pitch, then his hands shall be considered a part of the bat.
48. If a batter attempts to hit a pitched ball after it hits part of the zone or passes the plane formed by the zone, then the batter shall be out.
49. Runs that score before an out is made in an inning shall count except in the case of a fly out or force out. In the case of a fly out or force out, no runs that take place after the moment the ball was hit shall count. In every other case, runs that score after the moment an out is made in an inning shall not count.
50. If a batter hits the ball onto the ground and as a result, the ball exits the playing area on account of the hit, then the batter and any concurrent stake runners shall be granted an advancement of three stakes granted from the time that the ball had been hit by the batter. If a batter hits the ball in the air out of the playing area, then the batter shall be granted an automatic homerun, and thus scoring, along with any stakerunners who were stake running at the time that the ball had been hit.
51. As long as the ball is in the playing area, the ball shall be considered live at all times, and runners may advance from stake to stake at any time, in keeping with the rules outlined in this document. No timeouts shall be granted during play for any reason, except in the case of injury or for some other reason otherwise deemed necessary by the umpire.
52. The 13 players that make up a townball team shall be the same 13 players throughout the duration of the game, except in the case that it is impossible for a particular player to continue playing for the duration of the game. If the umpire agrees that it is impossible for a player to continue playing for the duration of the game, then and only then will a substitute player be introduced, according to the ground rules set before the game agreed upon by both captains.
53. The set of rules written in this document shall be considered the complete set of rules for 21st Century Townball, and any play during a legal game of the same that does not break nor disobey these rules shall be considered legal, and shall be considered so until a rule is otherwise added to this set.
54. Any rule outlined in this document can be spontaneously modified during or before a game, if agreed upon by both captains. However, unless otherwise agreed upon by both captains, each rule in this document shall be considered binding during game play and shall be followed in all cases, and no rule changes can be made if not agreed upon by both captains.
55. Players shall use common sense in keeping safety, fair play, and good sportsmanship in mind when playing 21th Century Townball. A player who is unruly or otherwise unreasonable in the opinion of the umpire shall be asked to leave the playing area after being warned.
