WP or Steal?

In my book the runner needs to be stealing on the pitch to count. If he isnt taking off till the ball hits the dirt then its a WP or E2.

Thanks, that is how I always scored it.....much to the dislike of my players who didn't see why they wouldn't get a SB on a ball the catcher kept in front of him.

I'd love for them to get great stats, but I want them to earn them, not just have them skewed.

If a pitch hits the dirt and the runner advances there are no errors. It is a wild pitch.

The only way there can can be an error is if the runner advances more than one base becasue of the play by the catcher. So if he picks it up and throws it into CF allowing the runner to go to third you've got WP and E-2.

Agree with that luv. Wasn't looking at it as an error, just a question of SB vs. WP.....we teach our players to read the pitch and try to take off as soon as they read "ball in the dirt".....realistically, they probably don't really start running to 2b until they see it hit the dirt, and that would qualify it as a WP.

I took the easy way out....I had the coach teach me the steal sign. Eliminates all of the doubt except for the two kids that have a green light. Next time a kid complains, ask him if the coach gave him the steal sign. Usually you get your answer, especially when you get to say "so Tommy, are you telling me you missed the steal sign because you did not break until the ball was down". That always gets them!

I usually look for the runner running on the pitch. If there is a delayed steal on and the ball is in the dirt, I rule WP.

quote:

Originally posted by JMoff:
I usually look for the runner running on the pitch. If there is a delayed steal on and the ball is in the dirt, I rule WP.

One of the reasons I hate scoring from anywhere other than as close to right behind the plate as possible, is that its very difficult to watch the pitch and at the same time be able to keep the runners in your peripheral vision prior to the pitch being delivered.

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:

quote:

Originally posted by JMoff:
I usually look for the runner running on the pitch. If there is a delayed steal on and the ball is in the dirt, I rule WP.

One of the reasons I hate scoring from anywhere other than as close to right behind the plate as possible, is that its very difficult to watch the pitch and at the same time be able to keep the runners in your peripheral vision prior to the pitch being delivered.

I prefer to be behind home plate as well. Sometimes it isn't possible due to seating configurations, but I find if I'm behind home plate, I'm "in my comfort zone". I can see the whole field, see the runners moving and have consistent reference for the ordinary effort calls.

The team played in the Fresno Easter Classic Mon, Tue, and Wed. Most of the fields used are in Clovis, a city where they treat HS athletics very highly. Of the 6 HS fields I’ve been to there, 5 have baseball stadiums, complete with lights, concrete tiered stands, and a for real press box for the scorers. This year I’m getting used to using the computer for scoring, and I’m constantly fine tuning the program, and I’m finding it much easier to sit where I have access to power. I have a spare battery, and it only takes a few minutes to change, but when I can use the charger, I’d rather do that.

Also, the sun makes it very difficult to see the screen, so when I got the chance to have power and a roof, I took it. It had been several years since I scored a game from a press box, and now I know why. While its much easier to see the entire field from 40’ up and 150’ away, for me it’s a terrible vantage for a scorer. The perspective for making those close judgment calls is horrible, many times you don’t get the pitch correctly, but worst of all, unless you have a home plate umpire who gives you changes, its really difficult to get them.

It was so strange, I saw something I’d never seen in a game before. In one of the games, the leadoff batter reached, the next batter popped out, then the next hit into a fielder’s choice, force out at 2nd. Suddenly the players on the field ran off, and the team batting ran out to their positions. Not being the OSK, it wasn’t my place to say anything, but I asked the lady who was scoring how many outs she had. Unfortunately, it was the 1st game she’d every scored without help, and she wasn’t at all sure what had taken place, or what to do about it.

The announcer checked her book, then checked mine, and by the time everyone had figgered out that there was indeed something wrong, there was already one out in the next half inning. So rather than start something that might cause controversy, we decided to just keep quiet and let the coaches deal with it.

In the next half inning, I again thought I saw something strange, but it not being my team batting, I thought maybe they’d slipped in a sub and no one had noticed. After an out and a hit, out came our coach for a discussion with the umpires. Turns out that the kid who should have batted in the last inning, had been subbed for defensively, and his replacement thought he’d batted and made the 3rd out, so he did go up. The kid who got the single was called out, and the kid who was up was replaced by the kid who’d gotten the single to get the batting order correct.

Needless to say, up in the booth, we were AFU! I hadn’t made allowances in my program for anything like that happening, the lady who was the OSK was almost in tears, and the announcer was trying his best to get everything straight. Needless to say, it was a complete mess that took us almost 2 innings to get right.

So, what I think I’m gonna do from now on, is stay out of those booths! It gets a bit difficult hauling a table, chair, computer and scorebook, but at least I’ll be where I can tell the umpire to hold on a second while we make sure what’s goin’ on.