Fungo,
I had seen several of your posts, and was hoping that you would respond. Thanks. I had originally scored one run earned and one run unearned (my son was pitching, and I'm sometimes overly concerned about being perceived as biased!); however, another player's dad had the same take as you - both unearned. C's fly ball to LF was certainly deep enough to allow a runner to score from 3rd (obviously), but the question is whether or not there would have been a runner on 3rd in order to score had there been no passed ball. Of course, I know to ignore the passed ball; but what about the stolen base? That stolen base was a real event in the inning that was not the direct result of an error or passed ball; but, do you assume that it would not have occurred had 2nd base not been open at the time due to the earlier passed ball (and subsequent single by B)? Or, do you account for the stolen base, which means you have to assume a double steal (i.e., A would have to also steal 3rd at the same time in order for B to steal 2nd). This would put a runner at 3rd base without the aid of passed balls or errors at the time of C's sacrifice fly, and the run would be earned. On the other hand, if you ignore the stolen base (and, of course, the E1), then runners are still at 1st and 2nd at the time of C's fly ball; and, even if you don't give the benefit of the doubt to the pitcher and say that they do advance on C's fly ball, I can say that they certainly do not advance on D's fly ball, as it was almost a line drive that was caught by the left fielder on a dead run towards the infield. A runner would have been foolish to try and tag up, even from 3rd. E walks to load the bases, but then I don't know how you get the third out of the inning. Scoring this inning was a real puzzler for me. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter; but, it is fun to discuss it.
