Commenting on this one
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_299.html
We may have come up with seven.
Walk
Hit by pitch
Dropped Third Strike
Catcher Interference
Official Rule 7.05 (h), ball thrown from the pitchers plate as a pitch or to catch a baserunner goes into the stands or dugout.
Official Rule 7.05 (i), the pitched ball misses the catcher and lodges onto the umpire’s equipment (e.g. facemask).
*7) Being inserted as a Pinch Runner.
Of course since 7.05(i) applies only in the case of ball four or strike three it falls into 1) or 3) above.
A coworker who is a major baseball geek, and I mean major (the guy has a master’s in math and is an Oracle dba), doesn’t like either of the last two, the last one for what Wolfpack posted and the fifth beause the batter has to be a runner. The phrase from the official rule book is “batter-runner”, which defined as a batter who has just become a runner. A batter-runner does not exist in every situation.
The question was
“What are the five ways of reaching first base without hitting the ball?”
I don’t think it matter if you started off as the batter or not if the question is phrased that way.
Except if the only way for the batter to become a runner is because of examples 1 through 4, then 5 and 6 are just subsets of one of the original 4. Can we all agree that Cecil was, well, not wrong of course, but, shall we say, overreaching with 6? 6 is clearly an example of 1 or 3.
Regarding 5, I have a coworker here who says that all of section 7 in the MLB rules is for runners. In order for the batter to become a runner on the wild pitch mentioned in 5, it has to be either a walk or a third strike. That makes it the same a 6, that is, really one of the first 4.
Are there any umpires out there?
What about the Balk? The runners advance but does the batter get to got to first?
Is a “catcher’s balk” the same as catcher’s interference?
If I’m not mistaken, 5 and 6 are not subsets of 1 and 3. Via 5 and 6 the batter and baserunners advance on a dead ball. Under 1 and 3, the batter and baserunners may advance but the ball is still in play (on a walk, the baserunners can be thrown out if they overslide or turn the corner at first – unusual but I’ve seen it happen).
In that case, I can add a lot more.[ul][li]Fans storm the field at the end of the game, and some of them reach first base[/li][li]Paratrooper jumps out of a plane above the stadium, and lands on the bag[/li][li]Captain Kirk beams down onto the field, right at first base[/ul]Et cetera.[/li]
As for Cecil’s final example, I don’t see how “ball lodged in ump’s mask” necessarily qualifies as “ball four” or “dropped third strike”. It might be ball four, but if the batter swings and misses and nobody actually drops it in the process of the masking, then isn’t it a separate case?
<<As for Cecil’s final example, I don’t see how “ball lodged in ump’s mask” necessarily qualifies as “ball four” or “dropped third strike”. It might be ball four, but if the batter swings and misses and nobody actually drops it in the process of the masking, then isn’t it a separate case?>>
The point in both cases is the batter does not get to go to first unless the pitch is ball four or strike 3. “Dropped third strike” is actually a misnomer. It should be “not caught third strike”. If the third strike is not caught and first base is unoccupied or there are two outs, the batter may try to get to first before he is put out. But when the ball lodges in the umpire’s equipment it is dead and no play may be made so the batter cannot be put out.
On a balk, the runners advance. The batter stays where he is.
What is called a catcher’s balk is when the catcher leaves the catchers box before the pitch. What few times it ever happens is during an intentional walk.
A few clarifications requested.
First off, regarding #5, I think its been partially addressed here already, but it seems that it must only apply to special cases. Many of you will recall during the Cubs-Marlins series, game 5 I think, where the relief pitcher came in and the ball slipped and flew into the seats. The batter did not receive a base. I’m sure this is probably because he was not a “batter-runner” since I think it was pitch one.
Basically the question is, when does this rule apply then?
We often see a ball tossed into the stands or outfield on a pick-off attempt at any base, especially at first, and I’ve never seen the batter advance. Often first base is occupied, and that may contradict it, but not always.
Another way that a batter can reach first base: reaching on an error.
Base hit, fielder’s choice and bad calls by the umpire are ways to get to first as well, but they all involve hitting the ball. An event specifically excluded by the question.
I’ve worked as an umpire.
A walk, hit by a pitch, drop third strike, catcher interference are all correct.
The two dead ball rules only apply to the batter if a walk or drop third strike have already occurred.
Pinch runner would be the fifth way to get to first base without that specific player getting a hit.
It is a trick question since the pinch runner didn’t actually participate in the play that put him on first base.
http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/batter_6.jsp
Rule 6.08 defines when a batter becomes a runner and 6.09 defines interference.
I can’t imagine a professor in a Regulation of Gene Expression class would come up with a question like that without a trick answer.
Gymbal31 – I’m a dentist, and my final exam of Advanced Occlusal Concepts asked this: Name five bands that Eric Clapton played in.
The question created quite a bit of controversy – not everyone knew music history, and the professor made the question worth 5% of our total grade.
I got the question right, by the way.
For the record, the correct answer(s) are:
it is possible to steal 1st base from 2nd. It’s been done before.
>steal 1st base from 2nd
It did happen. Once. Ir won’t happen again. It’s been ruled illegal as a mockery of the game, or some such.
I thought Cecil posted a correction to his answer to the question.
Anyway, Cecil listed the following ways a batter can reach first without getting a hit:
“According to Official Rule 7.05 (h), the batter and base runners get one base ‘if a ball, pitched to the batter or thrown by the pitcher from his position on the pitcher’s plate to a base to catch a runner, goes into a stand, or player’s bench, or over or through a field fence or backstop, or is touched by a spectator.’”
This is incorrect. Cecil failed to note that the rule applies to a “batter-runner” and runners, not a batter. A batter-runner is a player who has just finished his time at bat “until he is put out or until the play in which he became a runner ends.”
Cecil also says:
“Alternately, according to 7.05 (i), ‘on ball four or strike three, when the pitch misses the catcher and lodges in the umpire’s mask or paraphernalia,’ the batter and runners are entitled to advance one base.”
This does not count as separate from advancing on an uncaught third strike or base on balls because the the batter became a runner on the uncaught third strike or walk, not because the ball lodged in a player’s or umpire’s equipment.
Also, technically on an uncaught third strike the batter-runner reaches on a wild pitch or a passed ball. Those would count as two distinct ways of reaching first, not as one.
This is the list I’m aware of…