Dropped Third Strike/Kicked Ball

If you have any rules related questions, please ask in this forum. In general, enforcement of rules is up to the Umpire of the game and iScore does not specifically enforce them, but we want to make sure we score within them. Ask here, and experts can chime in.
Post Reply
VoodooK
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2016 4:29 pm

Dropped Third Strike/Kicked Ball

Post by VoodooK » Tue Apr 23, 2019 3:05 am

Situation: Runner strikes out on a dropped third strike but reaches first after inadvertently kicking the ball preventing the catcher from making the put out. Batter is called out for interference.

Would a proper way to handle this be to score it as OI and then manually add the strikeout to the pitcher and batter stats?
PetroGuy
Posts: 567
Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 12:43 pm
Location: Oklahoma City, OK

Re: Dropped Third Strike/Kicked Ball

Post by PetroGuy » Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:39 am

There are a couple of ways of handling this. FYI - depending on the rule set used for play, a batter inadvertently kicking the ball in this situation should not be called out for interference unless the ball was up the first base line and the batter had a good chance to see and avoid it. Intentional kicking of the ball should get the batter called out. In almost all cases, a batter inadvertently kicking a dropped third strike should just be a no call. The defense should have handled the pitch and the offense should not be penalized for poor play by the defense. This is actually an example in FED rules and the MLB umpire manual has a note about this as well.

Anyway, let's assume the correct call was made and we just have to score it properly. You can just call it a dropped third and credit the catcher with the putout. Add a note about the offensive interference if you want.

The way to get the correct stats all around (I believe), is to score it as a dropped third strike but to tap the batter as safe. Then, within the same play, you can tap the runner as out for offensive interference. The play-by-play will look odd because it will say the batter is safe at first and out by OI in the next sentence. Add a note for clarification and you are good. To do this in the software, just tap 'Strike' on the 3rd strike, 'Safe' at the top of the screen that comes up, then tap 'Dropped 3rd Strike''. When asked what happened to the batter, tap 'Out' at the top and 'Offensive Interference'.
Check out the iScore documentation page!
Includes videos and user manual.
http://iscoresports.com/baseball/training.php#docs
Post Reply