Fielding assist on an error

[nicett]

Scored a game yesterday. Situation: ground ball to ss who makes a good throw to first but first baseman drops the ball. Runner is safe as a resume of e-3. Rule 10.10(a)1 mandates an assist to the ss. However, the stats do not show it. Is there a way to show the assist?

[FTMSupport]

We do not currently handle the situation of Assists with a failed putout. We have had this come up in the forum before, but do not have a solution yet. We have it on our priority list for a future update, but still need to come up with an elegant way of doing it. We are thinking maybe as you enter the "touches" for the play (touching shortstop and first base in your case), we will have a way to mark assists even for failed putouts. Successful putouts would not need any additional entry, but a failed putout would require something extra if you want to track the assists in this scenario.

(fwiw... baseball is the only sport where you can get an assist for a failed play... so much for teamwork, eh? On the opposite end, shouldn't the first baseman get rewarded for digging out a bad throw from the shortstop that otherwise would have been an out had the shortstop thrown it well? Really not a lot of logic to the whole thing, but it is what it is. The truth is the vast majority of people keeping score would not know or care about this being an assist, but it technically is, and we would like to be able to account for it for those people that do.)

[OhioTex]

just another quirk .. that we love in baseball..

[davidlimbaugh]

We do not currently handle the situation of Assists with a failed putout. We have had this come up in the forum before, but do not have a solution yet. We have it on our priority list for a future update, but still need to come up with an elegant way of doing it. We are thinking maybe as you enter the "touches" for the play (touching shortstop and first base in your case), we will have a way to mark assists even for failed putouts. Successful putouts would not need any additional entry, but a failed putout would require something extra if you want to track the assists in this scenario.

(fwiw... baseball is the only sport where you can get an assist for a failed play... so much for teamwork, eh? On the opposite end, shouldn't the first baseman get rewarded for digging out a bad throw from the shortstop that otherwise would have been an out had the shortstop thrown it well? Really not a lot of logic to the whole thing, but it is what it is. The truth is the vast majority of people keeping score would not know or care about this being an assist, but it technically is, and we would like to be able to account for it for those people that do.)

A key stat for fielding percentage - adds to chances successfully handled. Shortstop make a good throw but first baseman drop it? Shortstop did his job.

[FTMSupport]

We understand the significance, and are pointing out the strangeness of it relative to every other ruling in sports.

As a crazy example, what if it turns out the shortstop throws so insanely hard or has a natural tail on the ball that makes it very difficult for the first baseman to catch it. The shortstop still gets rewarded as though the play were successful even though the way he throws played a part in not getting the out. In the stats, the shortstop looks great, and the first baseman looks bad, but that is not necessarily the whole story.

Even in baseball, why is the first baseman doing his job on a bad throw not similarly rewarded if the out is not made.

In basketball, a player can make a perfect pass to a guy under the basket, the guy under the basket can be all alone, but if he does not make the shot, no assist is awarded. In soccer, you can make a perfect pass to the center of a field with a wide open goal, and if the guy you passed to boots the ball over the goal, no assist. Same for hockey. In football, a quarterback can make a perfect pass, but if the receiver does not catch the ball, the quarterback does not get a completion.

Not looking to debate whether it is an assist... the rule says it is, so it is. Just having a little fun with the silliness of it.

[tmccombs]

interesting topic. Perhaps the issue lies in that in baseball assists are a defensive stat whereas all other sports it is an offensive stat?

[FTMSupport]

Baseball is also the only sport where the defense is in control of the ball (other than the brief moment that it is hit by a batter), and handling the ball is where an assist comes in.

[brentwalker]

My brain hurts.

[us6krums]

HA HA. Funny topic. I used to count assists manually and would count that play just as you say, but it is wierd. Ah...baseball!

[Bryan D Shepherd]

As a crazy example, what if it turns out the shortstop throws so insanely hard or has a natural tail on the ball that makes it very difficult for the first baseman to catch it.

Officially, would that not be a throwing error on the shortstop since the first baseman could not catch the throw because the throw was...errant (used loosely)?