I think you’re misremembering Kruk’s at-bat against Randy Johnson in the 1993 All Star Game. Johnson’s control was pretty poor in those days, and he uncorked a pitch that must have been three feet over Kruk’s head. Kruk responded by moving as far back in the batter’s box as possible and letting Johnson strike him out. My impression was that if the rules allowed Kruk to stand in the on-deck circle for the rest of his at-bat, he would have done so.
As for the definition of an error, it’s a physical (not mental) mistake by a fielder that allows a runner to be safe, or to advance a base, or that prolongs an at-bat. To be an error, the play must be one that would be made with “normal effort” - it’s not an error (for example) if a fielder has the ball tip off the end of his glove after sprinting 150 feet to get to a fly ball.
There are some exceptions: passed balls and wild pitches are not counted as errors. A catcher who makes a bad throw on a stolen base attempt is not charged with an error just because the base stealer is safe, but only if a runner advances an extra base as a result of the bad throw. Also, no error is charged for a bad throw in an attempt to complete a double play as long as one out is recorded (but an error can be charged for a bad catch to complete a double play).
What about plays like passed balls and wild pitches?
My understanding is that wild pitches are not judged errors because throwing to the plate (even if you miss badly) is not in the context of “fielding”.
Similarly if the pitcher walks three batters to load the bases, then fields a ground ball and makes an errant throw to a base, he is given a fielding error but not an earned run because, in some sense, it was a fielder’s fault and not the pitcher’s that the run scored (even though the fielder and the pitcher were, in fact, the same person).
What about passed balls? Assuming they are considered fielding errors on the part of the catcher, why is this particular sub-category of error kept track of separately from throwing and other errors, while infielders don’t get separate ledgers for bobbles and booted balls? Or is catching/blocking a pitch considered part of the “pitching” context and not the “fielding” context for a catcher?
That’s part of it; I think there is also a statistical consciousness: a catcher doesn’t get credit for a putout or an assist every time he catches a routine pitched ball, so in some sense it’s not “fair” to give him an error every time he misses one.
If you think about it, a catcher will handle around 100-150 pitches every game. The most balls hit to any one fielder in a game will be 10 most of the time. (That’s on the high side).
A first baseman may have to handle 10-15 throws on ground outs.
The wild pitch/passed ball distinction is pretty hazy. Some have argued to get rid of the distinction and think that they should all be blamed on the catcher or all on the pitcher.
Correct. But if the pitcher had thrown a wild pitch that scored a run, he would be charged an earned run. But if the official scorer called the pitch a passed ball instead of a wild pitch, then it would be unearned. In the final analysis, all rulings of errors, wild pitches, passed balls depend on the official scorer.
Of course if the pitcher walks three batters, then allows a runner to score on a passed ball and then gives up a three run homer, all four runs are earned anyway.
It’s all an exercise in trying to figure out what would have happen without errors or passed balls.