quote:Originally posted by RedSoxFan21:
Yeah but ..... as to your first point
how can you say the pitcher picked him off unless the runner was going back to the bag and was put out? Anything else, regardless of why,is an attempted advance to the next base, and thus a stolen base or a caught stealing.
You could argue the runner drew the pick off attempt as a means to stealing.
Just sayin ...
The way I look at it, a pick isn’t defined as making an out. To me it says a runner was caught off base by the defense. There are times he will be put out, but there are also times he won’t. FI, if a runner is caught leaning and initially tries to get back, but decides better and takes off for the next base, at that point in time he’s been picked off. Whether he ends up being safe or out has yet to be determined.
One of the reasons I think about it the way I do, is because of the following. To me, the language in “(c)” comes right out and says plainly that a runner can be picked off but not be out.
OBR 10.07 STOLEN BASES AND CAUGHT STEALING
The official scorer shall credit a stolen base to a runner whenever the runner advances one base unaided by a hit, a putout, an error, a force-out, a fielder’s choice, a passed ball, a wild pitch or a balk, subject to the following:
(c) When a runner, attempting to steal, or after being picked off base, evades being put out in a run-down play and advances to the next base without the aid of an error, the official scorer shall credit the runner with a stolen base. If another runner also advances on the play, the official scorer shall credit both runners with stolen bases. If a runner advances while another runner, attempting to steal, evades being put out in a run-down play and returns safely, without the aid of an error, to the base he originally occupied, the official scorer shall credit a stolen base to the runner who advances.
I asked the original question because I know there are a lot of different ways to look at it because there’s no definition in the book, and one can really read a lot of different things into it. Its just something I don’t think a lot of people have given a lot of consideration too.
To me its kind of a shame that pitchers actually get penalized by not being credited with a pick, when something happened he had no control of.