Is it an error if no one touches the ball?
A fly ball that drops between two fielders who didn't talk, or one lost in the sun or the lights, can be a hit or an error. The scorer decides whether ordinary effort would have made the out, and the book treats a mental mistake as a hit. The untouched error you'll see most is a routine grounder through the legs.
Have you ever watched a scorekeeper charge an error on a pop fly that dropped between two fielders? The shortstop and the left fielder both drift. They both stop. It falls between them, and the shortstop gets the E.
It can be a hit or an error, and the scorer has to decide which. The question is whether ordinary effort would have made the out. Watch enough big league games and you’ll see this exact play, and you’ll usually see it scored a hit.
When two fielders could have caught it and neither did because no one called it, that’s a breakdown in communication. No one’s glove failed. The book says that mental mistakes and misjudgments aren’t errors. A ball that drops because two players were waiting on each other is a mental mistake.
The same goes for a ball lost in the sun or the lights. The player never saw it, and you can’t misplay a ball you can’t see. A fielder who breaks in on a fly ball that goes over his head misjudged it. He didn’t drop anything, so it’s a hit.
So when is an untouched ball an error? The one you’ll see most is a routine ground ball that goes right through a fielder’s legs. He was set. It was hit right at him. The ball never touched the glove because the glove wasn’t down.
The book says a fielder doesn’t have to touch the ball to be charged with an error, and it names the fly ball that falls untouched right alongside the grounder.
Underneath all of it is ordinary effort. What would an average fielder at this position, at this level, do? I don’t mean a high school player or the best player in the tournament. I mean an average 11u shortstop, if that’s who’s out there. Most youth scorekeepers score the play against the fielder they imagine instead of the one on the field.
And if you’d rather not score errors at all, I’m with you — I explain why in this card. But if we’re going to score them, let’s save them for the plays a fielder really should have made.
Which rulebook? Official Baseball Rules 9.12(a)(1) and its comments: an error is a physical misplay, and mental mistakes or misjudgments are not errors unless a rule says otherwise. A fielder need not touch the ball to be charged, as with a routine grounder through the legs, or a fly ball that falls untouched when the scorer judges a fielder could have caught it with ordinary effort (9.12(a)(1) Comment). Ordinary effort, the standard for every error, is what an average fielder at that position in that league should do.
Bases loaded, one out. A pop-up drifts toward the first base dugout. The first baseman settles under it in foul territory, and it bounces off his glove and drops. What is it?
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“I don't want a player charged with an error for a ball he never had a chance to catch.”
Obstruction vs. interference
Obstruction is the defense getting in the runner's way, and interference is the offense getting in the fielder's way. The penalties go in opposite directions, so it matters which one the umpire sees.
“If you don't have the ball and you aren't fielding it, get out of the runner's way.”
Does the pitcher have to come set before a pickoff?
The stop is required before a pitch, not before a throw to a base. From the stretch, he can lift his hands and throw to first without ever stopping, as long as he steps toward the base.
“If he steps toward first before he throws, a quick pickoff without a stop is legal.”
The rules quiz
Ten questions, two minutes. Would you have gotten the call right?
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