Monday, July 08, 2013
Correcting the batter out of turn
Rob Neyer points to an interesting passage:
"Guess I might as well admit," said Richards, "I purposely had Adair bat out of turn. I was hoping the count would get to 3-and-0, and then I could send up Jones to get a walk. I didn't have another pitcher hot, so I didn't want to take out Jones."
This refers to this rule, where Baker bats out of turn (Abel should have been batting):
PLAY (1). Baker bats. With the count 2 balls and 1 strike, (a) the offensive team discovers the error or (b) the defensive team appeals. RULING: In either case, Abel replaces Baker, with the count on him 2 balls and 1 strike.
So, if the defense is paying attention, they should lob it in to Baker. It's either a free strike, or Baker makes contact, and Abel is automatically out.
(By the way, why would the defense appeal mid-plate appearance? And if you want to get really really mean: the pitcher could throw the ball directly AT the batter, getting the hit batter nullified by the out for batting out of turn!)
I therefore have this question, and hopefully someone out there flexes their Retrosheet muscles (1988-2012): what is the distribution of ball-strike counts in situations where a batter hits out of turn? We should hope that the defense is alert enough that there are far more strikes than balls in those situations. Does this actually happen?
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