In the 8th inning of today’s Indians-Cardinals game, Pestano struck out Craig for the third out with the bases loaded. The pitch was in the dirt and Sanatana blocked it. Craig sort of wandered off not running to first. Santana picked the ball up and emphatically stepped on the plate to force out the runner from third. Now this is clearly a strike out with a putout to the catcher, but so is an ordinary strikeout. When scoring I’d show this as a force out, but would you note anything special in the box score about this?
I’ve never seen a box score which tracked any kind of dropped third strike, much less ones where the catcher ends up recording the putout anyway. Wild pitches and passed balls are listed, of course, but nothing specifically ties these to a strikeout. K 2-3 plays result in a putout for the first baseman and an assist to the catcher, but again, just by reading the box score, you wouldn’t know that these occurred in conjunction with a strikeout.
What a person puts on a scorecard, of course, is a matter of personal preference.
Since no one has answered for a while, I’ll take a shot.
On a third strike that is caught by the catcher, the pitcher is credited with a strike out, the batter is credited with a strike out, and the catcher is credited with a put out.
On a third strike that is not caught by the catcher, the pitcher is credited with a strike out, the batter is credited with a strike out. If an out is made, the put out is credited to whoever made the put out. If the catcher stomps on the plate in a bases loaded situation, he is credited with the put out. If the catcher has to throw to first, the first baseman is credited with the put out. If the batter makes it to first, no one is credited with the put out.
I didn’t see the incident but, if it’s as described, isn’t Craig out under 6.09(b), regardless of Santana’s subsequent action? Official Baseball Rules
Not if there are already two out.
If he “wandered off” far enough to be out of the dirt circle around home plate, he would be out automatically.
I think he means the part in the note, which says if the batter doesn’t realize the third strike was dropped and simply “wanders off,” he is declared out as soon as he leaves the dirt circle around home plate. So if that were the case, and Craig left the dirt circle before the catcher stepped on the plate, that means Craig would have been declared the third out, not the runner on third.
I guess the catcher still gets the putout either way, though.