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Hit or error?

Batter hits long fly ball to right field warning track.

Right fielder was actually standing right in front of warning track for the at bat.

To all appearances the ball is headed straight to the fielder (as in he would not have to move to catch the ball).

Right fielder, shifts a foot, puts glove up.

About 30-40 feet away from right fielder, ball starts to slice wickedly.

Right fielder reacts to the movement, but misjudges the ball. He moves about 10 feet to his left and stumbles while trying to catch the ball but it hits his glove and bounces to the wall.

Batter-runner makes it to third.

There were three scorekeepers in attendance (actually scoring the game).

One marked it as an E9, one marked it as a H (3B), and the third marked it as a H (1B + 2 base error).

Given the wicked slice at the end and the movement that he had to make at the end of the play, I was the scorekeeper who marked it as a triple. I think that the third scorekeeper is simply wrong, if it was a hit, the ball hitting the glove and bouncing to the wall is part of that hit.

Thoughts?

My thoughts depend on the age and ability level of the teams. This determines what the standard for 'Ordinary Effort' required to determine an error.

MLB Rules - Definition of Terms

ORDINARY EFFORT is the effort that a fielder of average skill at
a position in that league or classification of leagues should exhibit on a
play, with due consideration given to the condition of the field and
weather conditions.

From your signature, I'm assuming this was a 13U Major level game. At this level of play, I would assume outfielders of average skill would be capable of reading a fly ball properly even if it has a slice, especially if they are a right fielder with a right handed batter. That is not an unusual ball flight trajectory. So for this level of play, I think it would be an error unless there is something else mitigating the situation (e.g. sun in the eyes, gusting winds, etc...).

For lower level play, this could be a hit. I agree if you score it a hit, it has to be a triple. I can't see how it could possibly be scored as a hit and 2 base error.

Echo PetroGuy points...


Have no way to support a H+2B error.

A debate I have periodically, is just because it touches the glove does not make it a routine play.. And likewise if it not touched does not mean with ordinary effort would have been caught. Many use the touched glove or not as a factor - I do not.

note that field and weather conditions can be factored in..

In relative scoring circles I tend to score criticwl on fielders.. So if he had the time and position and was not impeded by field and weather, just misread the spin . I would be prone to an error.