Pop fly lost in sun- Error/hit??

I tend to be very hard about errors --- but given that the ball hung for a while, I'd say error. Did the OF have and use sunglasses? Did he use his glove to block the sun in order to track? His not using those tools would make me lean even more to error, while direct sun on a standard fly (or worse, a line drive) would make me lean toward no error.

If the ball did hit the catcher's shin guards first, it was blockable, and even on a dropped strike would have been playable to first. I'd say PB.

1st: Error.
2nd: It's a drop 3rd strike. Doesn ot make any difference. If batter swung and the catcher missed the ball its a drop 3rd strike. Check several threads on this topic.

1st question: error

2nd question: DTS-PB. You have to assign a PB or WP with the Dropped Third Strike. Necessary for determination of earned or unearned runs if this batter/runner eventually scores.

Colo05Dad,

No error is charged on a pass ball or wild pitch so doesn't the run count against ERA either way.

Orlando-

Outfielder wasn't wearing sunglasses- the other outfielders were(I have seen him wear sunglasses before and I don't know whether they were borrowed or not). LF had to jog 10 feet and stood there waiting for ball to drop.He did hold hand/glove up to face- I don't recall whether it was the glove or hand.But the play was so routine the other team made the comment that the LF needed to learn to fight off the sun.

Yup. Sounds like E7. Reasonable effort would have made the play.

bbforlife,

Good question. The rules of baseball do not allow errors to be charged against pitchers and catchers when pitches are delivered because of the number of times they handle the ball in the course of a game. However, when a pitcher delivers a pitch that the catcher cannot handle with ordinary effort, pitcher is charged with a wild pitch (WP). When the catcher cannot handle a pitch that should have been caught with ordinary effort, he is charged with a passed ball.

When determining earned runs, passed balls are treated as errors. However, wild pitches are not treated as errors. The reason is that the pitcher was responsible for the batter reaching 1B on DTS-Wild Pitch(catcher could not handle pitch with ordinary effort).

Hope this is clear as mud.

1..An error is NEVER given on a ball lost in the Sun, especially if it was not touched. Whether the fielder wore sunglasses or not, has no bearing. NO ERROR.

2..If the ball hit the shinguards 6" off the ground, it was blockable, PASSED BALL. A passed ball that leads to a run is NOT an earned run.

p.s. It's not a "dropped 3rd strike. It's an uncaught 3rd strike. "Dropped" means the catcher could not hold the pitch in his hand or mitt. A 3rd strike not caught could also be a wild pitch, which would count as an earned run.

I agree with Bluezebra. Ball lost in the sun is just "one of those things" like a bad hop. They even lose 'em in the sun in the major leagues. No error from me.