attempt to get the batter to "chase" the pitch (swing at it), and strike out. Somewhat surprisingly, in general, a 3–0 count tends to yield fewer hittable pitches, depending on the situation. (Baseball fans have often suggested that this is because umpires are reluctant to call four straight balls and as a result "ease up" on the fourth pitch, treating it as having a wider strike zone.) Often, batters will "take" (not swing at) a 3–0 pitch, since the pitcher has missed the strike zone three straight times already, and a fourth would earn the batter a walk. This is a sound strategy because the batter is more likely to eventually reach base even if the count becomes 3–1 than he is if he puts the ball in play on 3–0. In some situations, it is also advantageous to take on 2–0 and 3–1. Full count A full count is the common name for a count where the batter has three balls and two strikes. Since a batter may maintain two strikes indefinitely by hitting foul balls, a full count does not always mean that only five pitches have been thrown, nor does it ensure that there is only one more pitch to be throw in the plate appearance. The full count term may derive from older scoreboards, which had spaces (rather than numerals) to denote up to three balls and up to two strikes, as this is the maximum number of each that can be accrued during an ongoing plate appearance. Many scoreboards still use light bulbs for this purpose, thus a 3–2 count means that all the bulbs are fully lit up. The alternate term full house (more commonly used in softball) is likely to have been influenced by the full house hand in poker, consisting of three of a kind and a pair. A pitch thrown with a full count is often referred to as a "payoff pitch", since it is likely to be a good pitch for the batter to swing at. With three balls already called by the umpire, the pitcher cannot afford to miss the strike zone, which would result in ball four and a walk for the batter. When there are two outs in an inning, any baserunners susceptible to being putout on a force play will normally run on any 3–2 pitch, even if they are not very fast runners. This is