A propos today’s column:What are the five ways to get to first base without hitting the ball (revisited)? - The Straight Dope I think there is one other situation that (h) may be intended to cover. Runner on second attempts a delayed steal on throw back to the pitcher after ball 4 and the pitcher throws the ball into the stands, then the now batter-runner is entitled to advance to second (and the would-be stealer to score). At least that’s how I read it.
Baseball seems such a simple game at first glance but it quickly gets into arcana very quickly.
I thought I had come up with another method:
The batter is bunting, misses the ball which hits the catcher’s glove and bounces into fair territory. The confused ump signals fair ball. While the defense is baffled, the runner takes first.
However, it doesn’t qualify because:
It goes into the scoring as a bunt hit. A play is what the ump calls, not what it really was. Ergo, a ball that bounces into the stands and is called a home run is a home run, not a ground rule double even for the player’s stats.