Editing At bat (section)

==At bat as a phrase==
"At bat", "up", "up at bat", and "at the plate" are all phrases describing a batter who is facing the pitcher. Just because a player is described as being "at bat" in this sense, he will not necessarily be given an at bat in his statistics; the phrase actually signifies a [[plate appearance]] (assuming it is eventually completed). This ambiguous terminology is usually clarified by context. To refer explicitly to a statistical "at bat", the term "official at bat" is sometimes used.

=== "Time at bat" in the rulebook ===
Official Baseball Rule 5.06(c) provides that "[a] batter has legally completed his ''time at bat'' when he is put out or becomes a runner" (emphasis added). The "time at bat" defined in this rule is more commonly referred to as a [[plate appearance]], and the playing rules (Rules 1 through 8) uses the phrase "time at bat" in this sense.<ref group="note">''See, e.g.,'' Rule 5.04(a)(3), which states that "[t]he first batter in each inning after the first inning shall be the player whose name follows that of the last player who legally completed his ''time at bat'' in the preceding inning" (emphasis added).</ref> In contrast, the scoring rules use the phrase "time at bat" to refer to the statistic '''at bat''', defined in Rule 9.02(a)(1), but sometimes uses the phrase "official time at bat" or refers back to Rule 9.02(a)(1) when mentioning the statistic. The phrase "plate appearance" is used in Rules 9.22 and 9.23 dealing with batting titles and hitting streaks, and in Rule 5.10(g) comment regarding the Three-Batter Minimum: "[t]o qualify as one of three consecutive batters, the batter must complete his plate appearance, which ends only when the batter is put out or becomes a runner." The term is not elsewhere defined in the rulebook.<ref name=MLBatbat/>