Frank Watson

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  • Frank Watson
    Participant
    We used to have fun with that, even before coaches decided pitchers should wear SuperSpy Secret Decoder Enigma Machines on their wrist.

    “You’re pitcher isn’t taking signs from the catcher. The rule says she has to take signs from the catcher.”

    “She certainly is taking signs from the catcher. Our signs are that if the catcher looks at you, she wants it waist-high down the middle. If she closes her eyes, hops up and down 3 times, and yells ‘Thunder-Chicken!’ she wants a 65 mph rise ball.”

    But as you say, there’s no “only” after “catcher” so (perhaps sadly) there’s no prohibition on signs from the dugout. The intent of the rule is to institute a procedural pause to prevent a quick pitch and as long as the pitcher pauses — simulating taking a sign from the catcher,  the sign does not need to be acknowledged in any way. At least that’s what I’ve heard in discussions over the years.

    Frank Watson
    Participant
    I generally agree with your last paragraph. You can’t erase the earning potential of A, simply because A was put out. If the fielder had chosen to put out the batter at first, the runner on third would still score as unearned, right? So no choice by the fielder can eliminate that earnings potential.

    I don’t believe you can assign “earned” or “unearned” status to B and C until you know the circumstances under which they score (when reconstructing the inning), but generally, it’s still that lead runner that is unearned unless, as you point out, the DR is out of his own action or by a double play.

    Frank Watson
    Participant
    This weekend, I saw a batter run on a dropped 2nd strike. The catcher assumed the batter was a better counter than she was and threw the ball to first before the batter got there.

    The batter’s manager leaves the dugout to point out to the umpire the mistake, the first base coach also approaches to help as needed and the batter, still assuming it was strike 3 and she was out, runs into the first base dugout and is called out for abandonment. Poor kid, but it was pretty funny.

    Frank Watson
    Participant
    Thank you, Stan. I thought there was no error on a missed third strike — that it was a passed ball instead.

    BTW, the ball went between the mitt and shoulder, as I recall — not a wild pitch.

    Frank Watson
    Participant
    It’s a force play because R1 has to retouch his original base (first) after the ball is caught. He is “forced” to go back there after the catch is made. So he doesn’t have to be tagged.

    The actual wording is:

    7.08 Any runner is out when—

    He fails to retouch his base after a fair or foul ball is legally caught before he, or his base, is tagged by a fielder.

    Frank Watson
    Participant
    Probably not B), as the runner from first surely does not score “unaided by an error.” (Even when Enos Slaughter famously scored from 1st in the 1946 World Series, the scorer gave batter Larry Walker a double.)

    You have to make a judgment if the runner on second would have scored without the error (quite likely on a single to right field) or not. So your picks are:

    A) single, E9, RBI (runner from second would NOT have scored without the error)

    B) single, #9, 3 RBI (runners from first and second would have both scored even without the error)

    C) single, E9, 2 RBI (runner from second would have scored even if the right fielder had fielded the single cleanly).

    I believe the convention would be to give the benefit of any doubt to granting the second RBI.

     

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