Wild Pitch vs. Passed Ball

The definition of a pass ball goes something like.....a ball that should be caught by the catcher with a reasonable amount of effort.

If the ball "skipped under his glove between his legs" I would assume it hit the ground in front of the catcher. If it hit the ground first it would be difficult to catch. If that's the case...I would agree....wild pitch. We'd all like for our catchers to block such pitches.....but even the best have one to slip thru occassionally.

Agree with rcbb but if the ball were in front of the catcher, he should be able to drop down and block it. A wild pitch is usually defined as one that the catcher had no chance at. The announcer may have called his opinion, but the official scorer will make the call.

The key here is ---did it touch the ground before home plate? If so it will ALWAYS be a wild pitch.

A wild pitch shall be charged when a legally delivered ball is so high, or so wide, or so low that the catcher does not stop and control the ball by ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance. (1) A wild pitch shall be charged when a legally delivered ball touches the ground before reaching home plate and is not handled by the catcher, permitting a runner or runners to advance. (b) A catcher shall be charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or to control a legally pitched ball which should have been held or controlled with ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance.

A good Catcher is worth his weight in GOLD.
Boy I bet Fork ballers and splitter type Pitchers, get a bad rap in the books without a good catcher.

well, I guess I stand corrected. The ball did hit the dirt in front of the plate. It was a fastball and it skipped straight in its line, right under the catcher's glove, between his legs.

I guess the definition states its a wild pitch, but in my mind, a catcher needs to block that. It was the most rudimentary block you could have. If he got into the position you would teach a 10 yr old, he would've blocked it.

But thanks for giving me the "book" definition, and I guess then it is technically a wild pitch. I would've scored it a PB in my book. Now I'm a little smarter.

Its like an infielder letting a ball go under his glove, imo.

The dirt balls are usually a wild pitch even though many are intentional. Nothing sweeter than a hitter swinging at a CB that hits a foot in front of the plate.

Fastball that bounces in front of the plate is not all that easy to block. I agree that the catcher should get most of them, but unlike a curve, which is slower and bounces higher when it hits the dirt, a fastball usually bounces low and fast.

A catcher is ready for a curve in the dirt. A fastball they don't commonly see hit the dirt in front of the plate, so the reaction time is a bit slower.

Wild pitch all the way.

GOMo,
I agree that a catcher's job is to block balls in the dirt! I guess we need to understand that a good catcher WILL block most wild pitches but once that ball touches the ground in front of the plate it becomes a "candiate" for a wild pitch according to the rule book.

Thanks for that info Fungo. I believe the catcher should get the ball in the dirt more often than not, then he is a real asset. But the rule tells it like it is.

I don't think its my fault in this situation, but lots of times, the pitcher will throw a curve or a fastball, and it will get away from him and hit several feet in front of the plate. My coach then yells at me for not blocking it, but lots of times, it goes off my helmet. How would you block the ones that far out?

Practice, Practice, Practice.

Then Practice some more. There's no substitute for experience.

good observations & thanks to Fungo for the scoring rule reference

that said .. how it most often is scored is ..
if the ball hits the dirt (even behind the plate) it is scored a WP

if the ball gets leather and is not handled it is a PB .. exception - if it is so high, or inside/outside that reasonable effort by the catcher does not handle it .. WP (scorer judgment)
college & above a replay is often used, tho some do not have that luxury

a good catcher has a feel for how his pitcher's fb, cb, slider, change, etc will skip/bounce in the dirt .. BUT if they hit in FRONT OF or ON the plate all bets are off on blocking & it's up to luck in keeping it from going to the screen

jmo .. but a good one

btw .. GoMo, don't be to quick to judge .. your original scenario on their first '06 Grapefruit League game, sounds like the catcher was crossed up & was expecting a cb/slider bounce rather than a fb skip

No, no, no, no....

This is the way to properly determine WP vs. PB.

If the pitcher's parent is keeping the book, anything that gets by the catcher is a PB.
If the catcher's parent is keeping the book, anything that gets by the catcher is a WP.

There, see how straightforward that is?

quote:

Originally posted by EagleBaseball:
I don't think its my fault in this situation, but lots of times, the pitcher will throw a curve or a fastball, and it will get away from him and hit several feet in front of the plate. My coach then yells at me for not blocking it, but lots of times, it goes off my helmet. How would you block the ones that far out?

Those are the ones you grab with your teeth!

lol you guys are too funny! Now from a catcher's mom who thinks nothing should get by him, and who is the team's scorekeeper and HAS charged her son with pass balls, my mantra is "ordinary effort" - if it requires blocking (whether the catcher does or not!), it's simply not a catchable ball. It's a wild pitch.

What if the pitch is a curve ball that lands in the dirt in right in front of the plate and batter swings at it for a strike, but the ball gets past the catcher to the back stop and run scores?  Probably a wild pitch, but most managers are going to expect that pitch to be blocked with a runner on third.  

       
       

Wild Pitch.