What Is a Single in Baseball? Definition and Examples
A single is a base hit on which the batter reaches first base safely and stops there, without the help of an error or a fielder's choice. It is the most common type of hit in baseball.
What Is a Single?
A single is a base hit on which the batter reaches first base safely and stops there — the shortest and most common of the four kinds of hits (single, double, triple, home run). To be scored a single, the batter must reach first on a batted ball without the aid of an error, a fielder's choice, or a force play on a preceding runner. If the batter could only reach base because a fielder misplayed the ball, it is an error, not a single; if a runner ahead was put out on the play, it may be a fielder's choice rather than a hit. A clean single is the everyday currency of offense: a ground ball through the infield, a soft liner that drops in front of an outfielder, or a sharp grounder up the middle.
How a Single Is Scored
The official scorer credits a single when the batter hits the ball into fair territory and reaches first base safely on the merit of the hit. The key judgment is whether ordinary effort by the defense would have produced an out; if yes and they failed, it is an error, and if no, it is a hit. A batter who singles and then advances to second on the throw to another base is still credited with a single — extra bases taken on a throw, a wild pitch, or an error do not upgrade the hit. The hit type is fixed by how far the batter legitimately reached on the batted ball itself: stopping at first means a single, regardless of what happens afterward. Singles feed directly into batting average, on-base percentage, and the "H" column of the box score.
Limitations and Common Misconceptions
The most frequent confusion is between a single and reaching first on an error or fielder's choice — both put the batter on first, but neither is a hit, and neither helps batting average. Another misconception is that a hard-hit ball is "more" of a single than a soft one; the scorebook does not grade singles by quality, so a 110-mph liner and a flare that drops in are both simply singles. People also sometimes think a single requires the batter to stay at first; in fact the batter can advance further on the same play (on a throw or error) and still have it recorded as a single. Finally, a single is not a measure of skill on its own — it is the floor of offensive production, valuable in volume and on-base terms but worth far less than extra-base hits in slugging.
Worked Example
A batter slaps a ground ball between the shortstop and third baseman into left field and pulls up at first base. That is a textbook single. Now suppose instead the shortstop boots a routine grounder and the batter reaches first — that is an error, scored as no hit even though the batter is standing on first base, identical to the single in every way but the scoring. In a third case, the batter lines a ball to the right fielder, who bobbles it, and the batter takes second; the scorer rules the hit a single and charges the extra base to the fielder's error. In all three, where the *batted ball* would have left the batter under ordinary defense decides the call.
Why It Matters
Singles are the backbone of on-base ability and rally-building. A lineup full of high-average, single-heavy hitters keeps the bases occupied and pressures defenses, even if it lacks thump. Modern analysis weighs singles against extra-base hits — a single advances the batter one base and is worth meaningfully less than a double or home run in run-expectancy terms — which is why slugging percentage and ISO exist to separate "got on base" from "did damage." Understanding the single as the baseline hit makes every other offensive stat easier to read, because batting average, OBP, and total bases all build up from it.
In Legends Deck
In Legends Deck, a single is the engine's most common positive contact outcome, and a card's single rate is driven by its contact and on-base inputs rather than its power. High-contact, high-on-base cards spray singles and keep innings alive, while sluggers trade some of that contact for extra-base damage. See which 2026 hitters produce the most contact on the leaderboards hub, or compare pure power on the barrel rate leaderboard.