Inbaseball, adouble is the act of abatter striking the pitchedball and safely reachingsecond base without being called out by theumpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay (seeerror) or anotherrunner being put out on afielder's choice. A double is a type ofhit (the others being thesingle,triple andhome run) and is sometimes called a "two-bagger" or "two-base hit".[1] Forstatistical andscorekeeping purposes it is denoted by2B.[2][3]
Typically, a double is a well-hit ball into theoutfield that finds the "gap" between thecenter fielder and one of thecorner outfielders, bounces off the outfield wall and down into the field of play, or is hit up one of the two foul lines. To hit many doubles, a batter must have decent hitting skill and power; it also helps to run well enough to beat an outfield throw. Many of the best double hitting batters were revered for high baseball IQ and the ability toslide well and turn asingle into anextra-base hit.
Doubles typically drive inruns fromthird base, second base, and even fromfirst base at times. Whentotal bases andslugging percentages are calculated, the number two is used for the calculation.
Teams sometimes position their fielders in a "no doubles" defense, meaning:[4]
This defensive alignment is typically seen late in a game, when the team in the field is ahead by one or two runs.
Renowned doubles hitters occasionally acquire a nickname that relates to their doubles hitting, for example "Mitchy Two Bags" (Mitch Moreland) and "Tony Two Bags" (Anthony Rendon).[5]
A two-base hit awarded by an umpire when a batted ball is hit fairly and bounces out of play is referred to as aground rule double. The batter is awarded second base and any runners advance two bases from the base they occupied at the time of the pitch. Prior to1931, such hits were consideredhome runs. A two-base hit awarded because the batter hit into a special situation defined in the ground rules is also defined as a ground rule double. An example of this occurs where the rules of Chicago'sWrigley Field award a ground rule double if a batted ball is lost in thevines on the outfieldbleacher wall. At theHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, umpires awardedDave Kingman a ground rule double in a 1984 game, when a ball he hit became stuck in the roof, although no specific ground rule existed for that situation at the Metrodome at the time.[6][7]
The all-time leader in doubles isTris Speaker, with 792. The following players are the top 10 Major League doubles hitters of all-time:[8]
Derek Jeter has the most career doubles (32) in postseason history.[9]
Only five players in Major League history have reached 50 or more doubles in a season at least three times:Tris Speaker (1912, 1920–21, 1923, 1926),Paul Waner (1928, 1932, 1936),Stan Musial (1944, 1946, 1953),Brian Roberts (2004, 2008–09) andAlbert Pujols (2003–04, 2012).
Individual season leaders:
Three players have hit eight doubles in a single postseason: Albert Pujols andDavid Freese (both 2011) andBen Zobrist (2015).[10]
The most doubles hit by a player in a major league game is four. This has been achieved more than 40 times, most recently on April 27, 2022, byKyle Farmer for theCincinnati Reds against theSan Diego Padres.[11] Only two players—Billy Werber and Albert Belle—have achieved the feat twice.[12]Johnny Damon andShannon Stewart are the only players to have hit four doubles ininterleague play, doing so in separate games on July 18, 2000.[13] TheSt. Louis Cardinals have recorded the most doubles by a team in one game: they hit 13 doubles in a 17–13 win over theChicago Cubs on July 12, 1931, in the second game of adoubleheader.[14]
Frank Isbell of theChicago White Sox hit four doubles in Game 5 of the1906 World Series, the only time this has been achieved in thepostseason.[15]Freddy Sanchez was the first player to hit three doubles in his first three World Series plate appearances, doing so in Game 1 of the2010 World Series.[16] Later in the game, Sanchez reached second base on a base hit that was initially scored as a double, which would have tied Isbell's World Series and postseason records; the play was later amended to a single and anerror, however.[16] The sole player to have twice hit three doubles in a postseason game isAlbert Pujols, both times in the 2011 postseason.[15] The most doubles hit in a postseason game by both teams combined is 13, by theNew York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the2004 ALCS.[17] There have been 13 postseason games that ended with a walk-off double; the most recent was hit byCarlos Correa of theHouston Astros in Game 2 of the2017 ALCS.[18] The1924 and1929 World Series were both won via a game-ending RBI double.[19][20]
Nine players have hit two doubles in anAll-Star Game, most recentlyJonathan Lucroy in the2014 edition.[21]
Bo Bichette hit a double in a record nine consecutive games in 2019.[22]
Among MLB pitchers,Earl Whitehill of theWashington Senators has given up the most doubles in a game. TheDetroit Tigers hit 10 doubles against him on July 10, 1935.[23]Robin Roberts holds the single-season record for doubles conceded (70 in 1953),[24]while the career record of 820 doubles allowed belongs toJamie Moyer.[25]
