Baseball Crossword (April 2023)

5. Occurrence when defensive player fails to complete play that would otherwise have prevented offensive player from reaching base safely.
9. First introduced into the American League in 1973 and then the National League in 2022, this person takes the place of the pitcher in the batter's box; ________ hitter.
10. Term used to describe the action of a offensive player on base taking the next base without being sent forward by teammate's hitting the ball into play.
12. Term used to describe when the batter lightly taps or pushes the baseball with a bat without swinging.
13. The distance in feet plus six inches between home plate and the pitcher's mound.
15. Former home of the Kansas City Monarchs and current home of the Negro League Hall of Fame.
18. Occurrence when pitcher stops suddenly or make illegal movement after starting to throw a pitch.
20. Period of play when each team plays in the field and then at the plate (or vice-versa); a typical game has nine of them.
24. Term used to describe somebody brought into the game to take the place of the pitcher on the mound.
25. Country from where baseball's earliest ancestors came.
26. Player responsible for throwing baseball to the batter from the mound.
27. Distance in feet between the four outer bases on the field.

1. Implement used by players in the field designed to help them catch or field the ball.
2. Term used to describe somebody brought into the game to take the place of somebody other than the pitcher on the field.
3. Collective term for players assigned to left, center or right field.
4. Handheld food option most commonly associated with baseball.
6. Term used to describe a player brought to replace a batter or runner in the game.
7. Often recognized as first use of game's name found in this female novelist's 1817 work Northanger Abbey (though term was in not in connection to our game).
8. First country outside United States to adopt American baseball as a pastime.
11. Founded in 1876, this is the older to the two major leagues with team like the Reds and Diamondbacks.
14. To advance to first base from home plate after taking four pitched balls that were not strikes.
16. Player responsible for receiving the pitched ball at home plate.
17. Collective term for players assigned to first, second or third bases.
19. A small town in upstate New York, it is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
21. Series of game played between the champions of the two major leagues each autumn.
22. Play initiated by the batter to help move teammate(s) along the bases at the cost of being caught or tagged out.
23. Founded in 1901, this is the younger of the two major leagues with teams like the Yankees and Royals.