Skip to main content

I love this sub forum.  I’ve been reading all the historical posts. I sometimes run GameChanger but only so our teams family can follow the game and watch the stream.  I do try to be accurate.  So here’s the question…

An OF runs up 10 steps, only to have the ball sail over his head by 10ft.  My understanding is this is scored a hit because it’s a mental error.  The ball has some momentum and rolls to the fence, allowing the batter to reach 3rd.  Is this a triple or a single and 2 bases on an error. I’m thinking it’s a triple based on some of the old posts but definitely not certain.  

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

@JucoDad posted:

Balls that are grossly miss read in the outfield has always been a strange one for me. I think you have it right, it's a triple in my book - unless I'm the pitcher's dad...

Thanks. I have a hard time with this too.  Until reading some of the older posts, I never realized it’s really not an error if the player makes a mental mistake and doesn’t attempt to put out the player.  Like in my question, I would’ve normally asked myself if an average fielder would have been able to track and catch a routine fly ball.  I suppose the rules are actually making the assumption that the player is skilled enough to do something routine 99% of the time with the other 1% being errors - not that you have a terrible player in OF. It’s the terrible player scenario that gives me the most problems when scoring 😁

my son’s youth coach used to use the ‘touch the glove’ rule to make it easier on the scoring.  The stats were meaningless, but it at least drew a line and probably stopped a lot of parents from bickering.  Needless to say, there were always the same few parents questioning calls - usually Reached on Errors they thought should be hits.  

I’ll admit that I’ve learned a lot reading this Subforum.  I’m working from the end gradually. And there were a lot of calls I would’ve got wrong because I didn’t know how the rule applied.  

The frustrating part is when your son is a college pitcher and you get a former infielder as a stats guy and they count hard hit balls that hit the glove as hits.  Mine is if you are playing D1 baseball it can be launched out of a cannon and it should be caught if it hits the glove in the infield.  Or when 2 fielders watch a ball fall between them because no one called it and it counts as a hit.  Or a fielder plays a shift too much and it is hit right where he should have been.

@PitchingFan posted:

The frustrating part is when your son is a college pitcher and you get a former infielder as a stats guy and they count hard hit balls that hit the glove as hits.  Mine is if you are playing D1 baseball it can be launched out of a cannon and it should be caught if it hits the glove in the infield.  Or when 2 fielders watch a ball fall between them because no one called it and it counts as a hit.  Or a fielder plays a shift too much and it is hit right where he should have been.

You may not like it, but I'm going to have to side with the former infielder stats guy on this one.... 105 at your ankles is no longer a "routine" grounder. Now I agree that most D1 guys turn those into outs (they are really good after all), but just because it hit your glove doesn't automatically make it an error. Balls being "launched out of a cannon" is a pitching issue, not a fielding problem.

The balls that drop and shifts..... we agree on that one. Somebody needs to get an error. Heck, I don't care.. make a new rule and give it to the coach.

You may not like it, but I'm going to have to side with the former infielder stats guy on this one.... 105 at your ankles is no longer a "routine" grounder. Now I agree that most D1 guys turn those into outs (they are really good after all), but just because it hit your glove doesn't automatically make it an error. Balls being "launched out of a cannon" is a pitching issue, not a fielding problem.

The balls that drop and shifts..... we agree on that one. Somebody needs to get an error. Heck, I don't care.. make a new rule and give it to the coach.

THTH has always been an acceptable ruling if circumstances support it.

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×