Dead ball (American football)

Dead ball is a term in many ball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it or the players from their respective positions of significance. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite routine, and often occurs between individual plays of the game.

In gridiron football, a dead ball is a condition that occurs between football plays, after one of the following has occurred:

The ball remains dead until it is snapped to begin the next play. During the time in which the ball is dead, the offensive team may not attempt to advance it and no change of possession can take place. The clock may or may not be stopped during this time, depending on the circumstances.

In baseball, when the ball is dead, no runners may advance beyond the respective bases they are entitled to, and no runners may be put out. The ball becomes dead when:

In general, the ball does not automatically become dead after playing action ends.

After a dead ball, the ball becomes alive again when the pitcher stands on the pitcher's plate ready to pitch, the batter, catcher and umpire are ready, and the umpire calls or signals "Play."

Players and coaches may ask an umpire for "time," but they themselves may not call "time" and cause the ball to become dead. Nevertheless, "time" is usually granted by the umpire when asked, and thus, colloquially, it is often said that players or coaches indeed can "call time." Unlike sports which have clocks to time the play, the phrase "time out" is not used in baseball. Likewise, there is no limit to the number of times a team can "call time."

In cricket, a dead ball is a particular state of play in which the players may not perform any of the active aspects of the game. In other words, batsmen may not score runs and fielders may not attempt to get batsmen out.

The ball, referring to the cricket ball, becomes live when the bowler begins his run up in preparation to bowling at the batsman. In the live state, play occurs with the batsmen able to score runs and get out.

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