Originally Posted by
dw8man
No outs.
R1 reaches base on a double off P1.
P1 is replaced by P2.
R2 reaches base on a single advancing R1 to third.
R2 advances to second on a steal.
With R1 on third and R2 on second, P2 strikes out B1 for first out.
P2 then strikes out B2 but ball is not caught by catcher. The ball is at the catcher's feet and with B2 attempting to advance to first, catcher throws the ball to first.
B2 is put out at first but R1 advances home on the throw.
R2 advances to third.
On a passed ball, R2 comes home.
Is R1 an earned run on P1?
Is P2 an unearned run on P2?
The 1st run hinges on whether or not if on the R2 strikeout the ball was a passed ball or wild pitch.
The 2nd run isn’t earned as of the end of the presented situation because it scored on a passed ball, but there’s no way of knowing from the above about its final scoring. You can’t reconstruct without knowing what happened in the ENTIRE inning.
If in fact B2 struck out and the ball was a wild pitch, which is most often the case, the run would be earned and charged to P1 because he was responsible for putting him on. In general I’d say that likely 90% of all 3rd strikes that weren’t caught was because the ball hit the dirt anywhere prior to the catcher. I like the OBR rule because if that happens, there’s no doubt. It’s a WP. In HS ball however, they aren’t bright enough to copy the OBR rule, so they make it easier to score a PB because they call in the scorer’s judgment as to whether or not the ball should have been caught, unless the pitch touches the ground in front of home plate. Personally, I use the OBR rule.
The 2nd run may or may not be earned depending on what happened after the run scored. When you reconstruct, OBR says: the official scorer shall reconstruct the inning without the errors (which exclude catcher’s interference) and passed balls, giving the benefit of the doubt always to the pitcher in determining which bases would have been reached by runners had there been errorless play.
So, assuming it really was a PB, when the inning is reconstructed, you simply assume the runner is on 3rd with 2 outs for that next batter. If he makes the 3rd out, the run would be unearned. But, if he gets a hit, other than a swinging but in front of the plate, you have to assume the run would have scored on the hit and the run is earned.
The pitcher who’s afraid to throw strikes, will soon be standing in the shower with the hitter who's afraid to swing.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks