Hit or error

by John
(07002)

John asked: Batter hits a chop up the middle.

F4 fields the ball at 2nd base and collides with F6, he holds onto the ball but is unable to complete the play.

The runner is safe at first, is this scored a hit or an error?


Rick answered: John, thank you for your question.

In the circumstances you have described, I would score it a hit.

One of the points to check in situations such as this is; would in the official scorer's opinion, the runner been safe or out, had the player come up with the ball cleanly.

Since the 2B fielded the ball cleanly and all that kept him from throwing the runner out was the collision with his SS, I would score it a hit.

The batter nor the infielder get penalized for the inadvertant collision.

Yours in baseball,

Rick