In sports, a time-out or timeout is a halt in the play. This allows the coaches of either team to communicate with the team, e.g., to determine strategy or inspire morale, as well as to stop the game clock. Time-outs are usually called by coaches or players, although for some sports, TV timeouts are called to allow media to air commercial breaks. Teams usually call timeouts at strategically important points in the match, or to avoid the team being called for a delay of game-type violation, such as the five-second rule in basketball. List of time-out rules by sport Baseball Baseball players and managers of both the offense and defense can request time out for a number of purposes, such as for a batter to step out of the batter's box to better prepare for a pitch, a foreign object entering a batter's eye such as dust or a bug, for a manager to speak with a player or umpire, or to replace one player with another (for which a time-out is required by the rules), etc. The requested time out is not effective unless an umpire grants it verbally or by hand signal (both hands raised). The umpire also has the ability to call time out for his/her own purposes, or for purposes of the game, such as replacing a worn ball. Since there is no clock in baseball, the main effect of a time out is to temporarily prevent the defensive team from tagging base runners out or delivering a pitch as well as to prevent base runners from advancing. However, the catcher may also request timeout once the pitcher has stepped on the rubber, usually with the intention of either "resetting" the play, or to deliver some information to the pitcher via either signals or a visit to the mound. Under certain (uncommon) circumstances specified by the rules, umpires are required to call time out, even while a play is in progress, such as certain cases of interference. Unlike many other sports, the rules of baseball do not limit time outs, either by number or duration. The end of the time out is indicated by an umpire verbally declaring "Play!" and/or by pointing at the pitcher while he is holding the ball (these umpire signals are identical to those used to start a game or resume play after the ball has become "dead", for example due to