C C No No

[jtur88]

Sabathia's no hitter.

There was a no-hitter a few years ago, I think maybe Bob Forsch, in which the official scorer reversec himself on his own volition later in the game to keep a no-hitter intact. But it was a home scorer.

A few years ago, The Cubs Zambrano had a no hitter in either the 8th or the ninth, and the first base umpire blew a call. All replays showed that the runner was clearly out at first, and the ump called him safe, costing Zambrano a no-hitter. In my views, the scorer could have called the play an E-3, since he had the ball in time to retire the runner, but failed to do so. That would have been a really bizarre call, but I think justified.

In a game I was at in Cleveland, John Farrell had a no hitter going in the seventy, and a liner was hit to right. The RF made a dive for the ball sinking in front of him,, which he missed by two feet, and it went through him to the wall. The scorer callied it an error all the way, but the next batter got a clean hit that they couldn't fudge.

When Skip Caray thought the scorer missed a call, he would get up and walk over to the scorers booth and tell him to change it, and he usually did. Maybe he made a few bad calls just to get some company. I think official scoring used to be done by two guys, but I guess now it just one guy.

[Grandstander]

All errors are actually opinions, the official scorer's opinion as to whether or not a play could and should have been made. Watching the C.C . replay, there is no certainty that handling the groundball cleanly would have prevented a hit, nor certainty that it would not. Even if the team wins the appeal and it becomes a retroactive no hitter, it will remain a controversial one with all references having to explain about the error and the reversal and so forth. Better it remains a one hitter.

I am reminded by all this that both Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser were the beneficiaries of some strange umpiring calls which allowed them to keep their shutout inning streaks intact when both were nearing the record.

[jtur88]

When George Brett was flirting with .400 in September, there was a tainted hit at home. With a runner on first, he grounded neatly to shortstop's left, room service DP. The second baseman thought the shortstop would just run a few steps to the bag at second, so when the SS was ready to toss the ball for a relay, there was nobody there. He then ran to second himself, but got there late. The rule book specifically covers this: .

10.06 A base hit shall not be scored in the following cases:

((d) When a fielder fails in an attempt to put out a preceding runner, and in the scorer's judgment the batter runner could have been put out at first base.

But Brett was given the gratuitous hit

[Grandstander]

If some record or streak is at stake, or some momentous one game feat such as a no hitter is unfolding, hometown scorers may generally be relied upon to resolve any controversial matters in favor of the hometown hero. DiMaggio caught a few breaks with scoring decisions during his streak. Cal Ripken once set the record for fewest errors by a shortstop in a season and the accounts I've read suggest that the Baltimore scorers simply decided that Cal couldn't make an error that year. Dodger pitchers were usually in the race for ERA titles, so Dodger defenders were often held to unreasonably high standards and charged with an error if any sort of remote case could be made for it.

I don't have a solution to any of this, as I noted, an error is an opinion and opinions vary. I saw a lot of Jose Canseco at bats and he made for some tough calls. Jose swung for the fences all the time and when he didn't make solid contact, his groundballs would still be hit very, very hard. More than any player in my memory, I associate Canseco with hitting groundballs through defenders, I mean balls which went directly to the infielder, but either ate the guy up or went through his legs. These looked like plays that should have been made, but then I wasn't the one out there trying to stop these low trajectory rockets. Were they hits or errors? That's an opinion.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Perhaps MLB should hire scorekeepers instead of the home team. But that seems like a big expense for something that really isn't that big of a deal most of the time.

[djwhokid]

How much does CC weigh? Goodness. I would be concerned giving him a big contract if his weight is above 300 pounds.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

Perhaps MLB should hire scorekeepers instead of the home team. But that seems like a big expense for something that really isn't that big of a deal most of the time.

Not sure I'd agree, on two counts. First, Baseball has a fabled history, relative to other sports and even other pursuits. It would behoove baseball to make that history an accurate accounting of the game, and not have players memorialized for feats that they did not legitimately merit, or vice versa. Second, baseball right now is plummeting through a serious integrity crisis, and controversies like this are not going to help. Assuming a scorer might be paid $200 a game, that's $3,000 a night, or a half a million a year. If 50,000 fans in one stadium drink an average of one $10 beer at a one game, that concession markup would pay for all the scorers for a whole season. for all of MLB.

[Triad]

ESPN commentators were saying there was an unwritten rule that the first hit in a game should be a clean hit, otherwise it should be scored an error. This seems rather odd to me. Why change the criteria for scoring just to aid a pitching accomplishment?

This is another reason why R and RBI can provide added insight, because the official scorer doesn't tend to affect those (maybe RBI very rarely). A batter who gets on on a lot of errors will score more than he otherwise would, and a batter being given gift hits by the hometown scorekeeper won't have a statistical advantage any more.

[jtur88]

The error us subject to too many exclusions. A popup tht is not touched by the shortstop and falls for a "hit" should be just as much an error as a ground ball between his legs that is not touched, which is ordinarily ruled an error. The criteria is nominally the 'ordinary effort' clause. But how would a wimp writer know what ordinary effort a MLB player possesses. Official scorers, for that reason, ought to be ex-players, who can recognize a ball that should have been played. In no case should a ball tbe called a 'hit', if ordinary effort would have retired a runner in the opinion of a MLB player. Also, we need to start assuming double plays and caught stealings. If, on a stolen base, the catcher cannot get a grip on the ball and makes a poor throw or none at all, charge an error, unless the runner gets an exrraordinary jump and deserves a SB on that basis alone. Or if the infielder drops the throw. And if a double play would be made with ordinary effort, charge an error where it is not.

On the other hand, stop charging errors on the center fielder who makes a perfect throw to the plate, which bounces (like it supposed to) erratically. In any situation where the appropriate throw would have bounced, charge no error if it bounces badly. Charge no error on the throw if it goes through the cutoff man, through the baseman, and through the pitcher backing up the play, unless it sails over all their heads into the grandstand.

There are numerous plays in which neither a hit nor an error is applicable. Example, a comebacker deflected by the pitcher, and unplayed by an infielder. Not a hit, because without the deflection, the batter would have easily been thrown out. Not an error, because no defensive player failed to meet the ordinary effort test. Simply call it a "Play", as in "The runner advanced on the play", from first to second on a sac fly, for example. In this case, the batter "reached base on the play".