Pepper is both a common batting and fielding exercise and a competitive game in baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, where one player hits brisk ground balls to a group of fielders who are standing close by.

Exercise

Pepper is a common pre-game exercise where one player hits brisk grounders and line drives to a group of fielders who are standing around twenty feet away. The fielders throw to the batter who uses a short, light swing to hit the ball on the ground back towards the fielders. The fielders field the ground balls and continue tossing the ball to the batter. This exercise keeps the fielders and batter alert, and helps to develop quickness and good hand-eye coordination.

Game

A competitive game, a group of fielders stand in a line fifteen to twenty feet away from a batter; one side of the line is the "front," the other is the "back." One of the fielders throws the ball to the batter, who attempts to hit grounders to the fielders standing in the line. When a fielder cleanly plays the ball, he throws it back to the batter, generally as quickly as possible, who tries to hit the ball again to the fielders. If the fielder makes an error fielding the ball, he must move to the back of the line. If the batter hits a foul ball (generally, hits it behind him) or strikes swinging at the ball, he is retired as batter, becomes a fielder, and moves to the end of the line. The fielder at the front of the line then becomes the batter. If the batter hits a line drive or pop-up to the fielders, whoever catches the ball, regardless of their position in the line, becomes the new batter; the batter moves to the end of the line.

Banning of pepper

Some ballparks have banned pepper games because of the danger of balls landing in the stands and injuring spectators or because its concentrated play damages the grass on the field. Many ballparks display "NO PEPPER" warnings behind or near home plate.