Sacrifice fly or miss hit?

Anonymous asked: Who decides whether the batter mean't a sacrifice fly or whether he is trying to get credit for a miss hit?

This seems to be statistically weak and should not be a legit stat. A bunt is obvious; but a fly is not.


Rick answered: Thank you for your question.

Ultimately, it is the official scorer who determines whether a play or situation is ruled as a sacrifice, hit, error or fielder's choice.

In the case of a sacrifice fly, the rule book defines it well in Rule 9-3 Players Batting Record Art4...A sacrifice is credited to the batter when, with not more than one out, his bunt enables any runner to advance or his fly ball enables a runner to score but which, in either case, results in the batter-runner being put out before he reaches first, or would have resulted in his being put out if his bunt or batted ball had been fielded without error.

In the case of a sacrifice fly, the batter's intent is not taken into consideration. If the batter's fly ball results in the base runner scoring on that fly ball, the batter is credited with a sacrifice.

No run scores, no sacrifice.

Yours in baseball,

Rick