What is the Major League Baseball Logo?

The Major League Baseball logo is a red, white, and blue image depicting a hitter standing the batter’s box, waiting to receive a pitch. The background is blue and red, while the hitter’s silhouette is rendered in white.

The logo was designed by Jerry Dior in 1968, to celebrate the centennial of professional baseball. It has been in use as the official logo of the league ever since.

There is some question over who the player depicted in the logo is. Unlike the NBA, where everyone agrees the logo is based on Jerry West, there is no such consensus around MLB.

The most popular theory is that the player is Harmon Killebrew, who was coming off of a second-place finish in MVP voting the year before the logo. Additionally, his stance is similar to the one used by the batter in the image. However, Dior has refuted this theory and said that the image is a composite based on multiple photos.

How is the Major League Baseball Logo used?

The Major League Baseball logo is used on all official MLB materials. You can see it on their website, on a broadcast, or at the ballpark.

Major League Baseball Logo Examples

You can see the Major League Baseball logo history on Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos website.

 What is a Can of Corn?

Not the food! Can of corn baseball edition is a term used to refer to an easily caught fly ball to the outfield.

As for why “can of corn” has become baseball slang, the origin of the term dates back to the 19th Century. At the time, in order to get down canned groceries from high shelves, grocers would use a hooked can to pull the can down. They would then catch it as it was falling.

How is Can of Corn used in baseball?

Can of corn is used in baseball announcing, writing, among players and coaches, and colloquially to describe balls that should be easily caught. Specifically, it refers to fly balls with a lot of hang that are easy for outfielders, similar to how the real cans of corn would fall from great heights and be easy for customers or grocers to catch.

How to know whether a fly ball is a Can of Corn?

There is no equation or calculation for a can of corn. It is one of those things that you simply recognize by seeing. Similarly, it is not officially recorded as a stat.

Can of Corn Examples

Most cans of corn are routine plays so, unfortunately, if one stands out, that is because the fielder misplayed it. For example, here is Mike Trout dropping a can of corn and allowing Derek Jeter to reach:

Popular or Interesting Can of Corn Stats

Although cans of corn are not official stats, and are not recorded anywhere, you can see some fly ball data on Baseball Reference.

 What is a Hold?

A hold is an unofficial statistic awarded to a reliever who protects a lead without closing the game. To be eligible for a hold, the pitcher must enter in a save situation, which means:

• He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
• He enters the game, regardless of the score, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck
• Or he pitches at least three innings

Unlike a save, where the pitcher enters in one of those circumstances and finishes the game, a hold is awarded to a reliever who pitches in a save situation and then turns the game over to another reliever. Therefore, rather than “saving” the win, they merely “hold” it and pass it onto the next pitcher.

How is Hold used in baseball?

Holds are an unofficial statistic that measures middle reliever performance, the same way a save measures performance for closers.

Before the hold, middle relievers could be charged with a blown save, if they surrendered a lead in a save situation, but there was no corresponding positive stat for when they did their job. Holds were created to fill that gap.

How to calculate Holds?

Holds are a counting stat, so a pitcher simply gets one if they meet the requirements. As a reminder, the pitcher must enter in a save situation, meaning:

• He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
• He enters the game, regardless of the score, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck
• Or he pitches at least three innings

He must then hold the lead and turn it over to another pitcher to get credit for the Hold.

Hold Examples

Watch Tyler Matzek convert one of the highest leverage holds in recent memory, entering a two-run game with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.

Popular or Interesting <Glossary Term> Stats

As holds are not an official stat, there is no official holds leaderboard. However, they are searchable in Stathead. Here is a list of the career leaders in holds.

What is the Rule 5 Draft?

The Rule 5 Draft is a draft held annually during the MLB Winter Meetings. Unlike the main MLB Draft, in which teams draft non-professional players, the Rule 5 Draft involves players who are already in a major league system.

Specifically, players are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if:

• They are not on the MLB team’s 40-man roster
• They have been in the minors for at least 4 years if signed after age 19
• They have been in the minor leagues for at least 5 years if signed before age 19

Once the draft begins, major league teams may draft any eligible player. If a team drafts a player, they must pay his old organization $100,000 to acquire him. The drafted player must remain on the team’s 26-man active roster (or injury reserve) for the entire season. If the team wants to send him to the minors, they must first offer him back to his original team, who can reclaim the player for a $50,000 waiver fee.

How is the Rule 5 Draft used?

The Rule 5 Draft ensures that teams cannot horde players in their minor league system indefinitely. It also gives players another way to break onto a major league roster.

Rule 5 Draft Examples

The most famous player taken in the Rule 5 Draft is Roberto Clemente, who was drafted out of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ system by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955. More recent examples include Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, and José Bautista

Interesting Rule 5 Draft Stats

In lieu of the waiver fee, teams may sometimes return a player if they wish to keep the drafted player in their organization, but send him to the minors. If that happens, the transaction changes, after the fact, from a Rule 5 Draft pick into a standard trade.

In addition to major league teams, minor league teams may also participate in the Rule 5 Draft. AAA teams, for example, can pick a player from AA. In the minor league portion of the draft, there’s no rule about having to return the player to his original organization.

What is a sinker?

A sinker is a type of fastball that incorporates a sinking motion, trading off a little bit of speed from a typical four-seam fastball, in exchange for a pitch that is trickier to square up on.

The sinker is also known as a two-seam fastball, due to the nature of the grip used to throw it.

How is the sinker used?

As mentioned above, the sinker, though fast, is not as fast as a four-seam fastball. Instead, the sinking motion can induce weaker contact from a hitter, leading to more groundballs.

How to throw a sinker?

The grip for a sinker varies based on the pitcher. However, the most common way to grip a sinker is for the pitcher to place two fingers directly on top of the part of the ball where the seams are the closest together.

Sinker Examples

Here’s a video showing sinkers in motion, as well as walking through how to throw it

Interesting Sinker Stats

While the sinker has been around in baseball for many years, it was not an intentionally thrown and developed pitch until the 1950s. Before that, pitchers would simply throw a fastball, with some ending up with ones that had a sinking motion. In the 1950s, pitchers began intentionally throwing and developing the sinker.

What is a slider?

A slider is a pitch that appears to “slide”, deceiving a hitter by causing him to miscalculate the pitch’s trajectory. This is a pitch in the category known as “breaking balls,” or pitches that move as they approach the batter.

The slider is one of the faster breaking balls, able to hit close to 90 MPH for some pitchers. After throwing, the pitch appears to be a normal fastball, only to break laterally towards the pitcher’s glove-side. For righties, that means it slides from right to left, with the opposite for lefties.

How is slider used by pitchers?

Sliders are one of the most effective tools for getting hitters to swing and miss, leading to strikeouts. Because the sliding action deceives the hitter, it can cause them to mistime the swing or aim in the wrong spot, leading to these missed swings. As a result, sliders are often thrown when the pitcher is ahead, and in two-strike counts, where the hitter has to swing.

How to throw a slider?

Sliders use a similar grip as fastballs. Commonly, the index and middle fingers are close together.

Slider Examples

Here is Jacob Misiorowski throwing an absolutely filthy 96 MPH slider:

Interesting Slider Stats

While Baseball Reference doesn’t have pitch type data, you can check out the page for Randy Johnson, one of the most effective

What is the Strike Zone?

The Strike Zone is the area above home plate where the umpire will call a pitch a strike, regardless of whether or not the hitter swings at it.

How is the Strike Zone used?

The strike zone is enforced by the home plate umpire and used to ensure a pitcher must swing at pitches instead of waiting for their ideal one.

How to measure the Strike Zone?

The Strike Zone is defined, in the official rule book, as:

“That area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the knee cap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball”

As a result, the strike zone will be different for each player, with taller player having larger strike zones and shorter players having smaller ones.

Although it has a specific definition, the umpire’s judgement ends up accounting for a lot of the definition of the strike zone. Some umpires have larger or smaller ones, and some may not call balls and strikes consistently throughout a game.

As a result, there have been calls for a “robo-ump” system that would use digital systems like PITCHf/x to call the game. Independent and minor leagues have experimented with this system, but as of 2025, it hasn’t been implemented. A challenge system is also something MLB tried in 2025 Spring Training.

Interesting Strike Zone Stats

Catchers receiving pitches can use a technique called “pitch framing” to make balls outside the zone appear as if they are actually strikes. This is a skill that some catchers excel at, and can be a substantial advantage for their team over the course of a full season. As of this writing in 2025, Alejandro Kirk is considered the best catcher in baseball at this particular skill.

What is a Designated Hitter?

The Designated Hitter (aka DH), is a player who bats, but does not play defense. He hits in place of the pitcher.

The DH role didn’t always exist in baseball. Prior to 1973, neither the American League nor the National League allowed DHs, meaning that the pitcher would also have to bat.

How are DHs used?

After the 2021 rule change allowing DHs in both the AL and NL (see below), most MLB teams now use DHs. Generally, a designated hitter hits better than the pitcher he replaces could. However, having a DH is optional. A team can decide to bat its pitcher and not use a designated hitter in any given game. Furthermore, a team’s pitcher can stay in the game to bat as a DH even after he has left the mound.

If a manager decides to move the DH to defense, the pitcher immediately takes the DH’s spot in the batting order. The team then forfeits the use of the DH for the rest of the game.

Any substitute for the DH, including pinch hitters and pinch runners, is automatically considered to be the new DH. These substitutes are listed in the boxscore as “Smith ph-dh” or “Smith pr-dh”.

MLB Designated Hitter Rule Change

The introduction of the DH is often considered the most significant rule change to occur in baseball’s modern era. In 1973, the American League allowed the use of DHs. However, several decades passed before the National League adopted the rule.

In the 2020 season, special rules were put in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic. That season, both the NL and AL allowed DHs. The year after, in 2021, the MLB returned to the pre-pandemic split between the NL and AL. Then finally, the designated hitter was made universal starting in 2022.

Interesting DH Facts

Here are some games where a designated hitter was not used:

• Ferguson Jenkins on October 2, 1974 for the Texas Rangers against the Minnesota Twins
• Ken Holtzman on September 27, 1975 for the Oakland A’s against the California Angels
• Ken Brett for the Chicago White Sox on July 6, 1976 at the Boston Red Sox
• Brett again on September 23, 1976 for Chicago against the Twins
• Rick Rhoden, a pitcher, was a DH on June 11, 1988 for the Yankees against the Baltimore Orioles in a game in which he was not pitching

The Phantom DH loophole

Orioles manager Earl Weaver found a loophole in the DH rule in the 1980s. He would list one of his inactive starting pitchers in the starting line-up as a phantom DH. Then, when the DH’s first plate appearance came up, Weaver could decide which of a number of players to use as a pinch hitter for his DH, depending on the situation.

In 1980, the MLB added a rule to close the loophole. Now, the DH listed in the starting line-up must bat at least once before being substituted, unless there is an injury or the opposite team’s starting pitcher has been changed.

What is a cutter?

A cutter is a type of pitch that is a variation on the fastball. The cutter pitch cuts away from the hitter. If a righty throws it, it will cut away from a right-handed hitter; if a lefty throws it, it will cut away from a left-handed hitter.

The cutting motion causes hitters to miscalibrate their swing a little bit. It can lead to swing-and-misses, broken bats, and lots of strikeouts if used correctly.

Although it is a type of fastball, it is typically a little slower than a normal four-seam fastball.

How is the cutter fastball used?

The cutter is not used by as many pitchers as a typical fastball, but it can be a devastating weapon for pitchers who master it.

The cutter moves in on hitters of the opposite hand of the pitcher (so lefty hitters vs righty pitchers or righty hitters vs lefty pitchers). As a result, the hitter can often make contact with the handle instead of the fat part of the bat. That may cause weak contact or even a broken bat.

Cutters are often thrown by relievers, especially closers, who use them as their primary pitch

How to throw a cutter?

A cutter grip is similar to the a fastball grip, but the pitcher places both fingers towards one side of the baseball. This produces the cutting motion when the pitch is thrown.

Cutter Examples

The most famous cutter pitcher was Mariano Rivera. The cutter was essentially Rivera’s only pitch. On the strength of that pitch alone, he accumulated 652 saves and was elected to the Hall of Fame

What is an At Bat?

One of the building blocks of baseball stats, At Bats are the number of hits, outs (excluding sacrifices), and times reached on error.

How is At Bat used?

At bats are typically used an input for formulas in stats like Batting Average and Slugging Percentage. For stats like that, it’s important to filter out plate appearances that aren’t relevant, such as walks and sacrifices. As a result, at bats typically have more value in formulas like that than it does as a standalone statistic.

How to calculate At Bats?

To calculate at bats, simply add up the number of hits, outs, and times reached on error. You will not include any sacrifices (such as bunts, hits, or flies) and also exclude walks and times hit by pitch.

At Bat Examples

For example, if Shohei Ohtani has five plate appearances in a game and ends up with two hits, a walk, a strikeout, and a sac fly, then he had three at bats. You would count the two hits and the out and ignore the walk and sacrifice

Interesting At Bat Stats

Pete Rose is the career leader in at bats with 14,053, while Jimmy Rollins holds the single-season record with 716. See the full career and single-season at bat leaderboards on Baseball Reference.