Error or hit?

by Mark
(Downingtown, PA)

Mark asked: Hard hit ball to center field.

The CF breaks in a step but the ball goes over his head (he does not touch it). Hit or error?

In general, are misjudged balls errors?

Rick answered: Mark, thank you for your question.

It comes down to a judgement call by the official scorer as to whether they feel the ball should have been caught or not.

In the situation you described, they would look at whether or not that initial step in prevented the fielder from ultimately getting to the ball or not.

There is no clarification in the rule book pertaining to errors, other than to say it is a misplay by a fielder or team. Leaves the scorers flying by the seat of their pants sometimes.

It is by no means a perfect science; mostly a judgement based on experience.

As a rule, misjudged balls are generally considered errors.

Yours in baseball,

Rick