Well hit ball to the third baseman's backhand side. He does well to knock it down, picks it up cleanly and fires to first. A good throw would have gotten the out but his throw is high forcing the first baseman off the bag, and the runner is safe. So, it took more than ordinary effort to knock the ball down but he managed that well enough. The throw should have been normal effort but he did not do that well. Error or hit? Thanks!
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Originally Posted by smokeminside:
Well hit ball to the third baseman's backhand side. He does well to knock it down, picks it up cleanly and fires to first. A good throw would have gotten the out but his throw is high forcing the first baseman off the bag, and the runner is safe. So, it took more than ordinary effort to knock the ball down but he managed that well enough. The throw should have been normal effort but he did not do that well. Error or hit? Thanks!
It’s always difficult to say when you haven’t seen the play with your own eyes, but here goes.
I suppose it’s a matter of opinion on something like that. If you believe the entire rest of the play depends on whether or not the actual fielding of the ball was extraordinary, then little else that happens after will cause an error to be scored. If you look at it as though there’s a series of events, any of which could be scored an error, then it’s something different.
FI, there’s the actual fielding of the ball, the throwing of the ball, and the catching of the ball. Ask yourself this. Is the play over as soon as the ball is fielded? Of course not, so why allow that part of the play to affect what happens later, unless there’s something like the throw having to be rushed because the batter was almost to 1st? But that’s not what you indicated above. You didn’t say it would have taken an extraordinary throw to get the batter at 1st, just a good throw which is “ordinary”.
I know it doesn’t seem fair, but that’s the way it is, it’s always been, and likely the way it’s always gonna be. Great fielders with a lot of range and a great arm get dinged on balls lesser fielders wouldn’t even get to, but that’s the way it goes.
Now for reality. When you’re the SK, on a play like that you only have a fraction of a second to make a decision. Let’s say you’re sitting alongside the 3rd base dugout scoring, your best base stealer is on 1st, and a slow to the plate RH pitcher is on the mound. Chances are you’re watching the runner, so when the ball gets hit you have the problem of locating it, and by the time you do, chances are you haven’t really seen the ball get fielded.
Now let’s say you’re sitting alongside the 1st base dugout having a conversation with a friend about stealing bases. Completely different perspective isn’t it. Now the play isn’t in front of you, and you have to shift focus from one part of the field to another.
In the end, all I can say is you have to use your best judgment and go with it. You may want to check with someone else about how close the play at 1st was, looking for a way to justify the bad throw, but in the end, once the ball is fielded, generally what happens after isn’t tied to it.
Agree with Stats. Even if the backhand play was ESPN-worthy, if, as you said, a good throw gets the runner, then a bad throw earns F5 an E.
