Basehit or error

Very hard line drive to infielder, ball is hit hard enough to knock the glove off the infielder. Is this a hit or error?

Age level?
Difficulty of getting glove to line drive?
Ordinary effort?
Without seeing the play, difficult to judge but my initial reaction is probably an error.

Agree with Sweet Lou.

I start from 'does the fielder have a reasonable opportunity to make the play?" The fact that hit hit her glove...no matter how hard the ball was hit, indicates the fielder probably had the chance to make the play.

Sounds like I'm a smidgeon more likely to rule hit on these types of plays than Lou and Lefty, but I agree that it's a judgment call. Would have to see the play to judge it. You said liner ''to infielder,'' so I'm going to assume that it's ''directly at'' the infielder. In that situation, it's not uncommon for a liner off the glove of the pitcher to be hit. Not unheard of for 3B. Much less likely with a middle infielder. Talking about liners where they don't have to move much. It's not so much an issue of velocity, but reaction time. One other tip: Don't award a hit just because ''she creamed that one, she deserves it.'' It's about the fielder, not how well the ball was struck.

doublenickel said:

Very hard line drive to infielder, ball is hit hard enough to knock the glove off the infielder. Is this a hit or error?

Click to expand...

Error!!!!!

I agree with Coogansbluff about reaction time. Ordinary effort might not be enough for a corner, but it should be a routine play for a middle infielder.

If it is the type of line that is hit right at the fielders chest I would consider that to be an error. If it is a line drive to and outreached glove and is a difficult play I would call it a hit. Like others have said, hard to tell without seeing the actual play.

E. Every time.

Too much interpretation leads to Mommy/Daddy scoring. Especially in hs where the stats will be in the paper tomorrow.

Hitter gets credit for hard hit ball in ROE. Better luck next time to fielder.

If everyone makes up their own scoring rules, the derived statistics are meaningless. My practice from Day 1 was to follow NCAA scorekeeping guidelines ( SB not BB).

CoogansBluff said:

It's not so much an issue of velocity, but reaction time. One other tip: Don't award a hit just because ''she creamed that one, she deserves it.'' It's about the fielder, not how well the ball was struck.

Click to expand...

From the NCAA stats guide (Section 3)...

A base hit is credited to a batter when she advances to a base
safely:

14.3.2 On a fair ball hit with such force or so slowly that more
than a routine play is required to put out the batter-runner.

I guess the judgement is about whether the play was "routine". An error is a failure to make a routine play, not a failure to make an outstanding, excellent, or even above-average play. I believe that many really overthink this, and sometimes wonder whether the more stingy among us ever lined up on defense against batters who knew what they were doing at the plate. I've seen gloves torn off the hands of good players, and been spun around myself by an infield grounder that looked and felt like like it was shot out of a cannon. I'd submit that in such a situation where the fielder's glove is ripped from the hand by the force of the hit ball, it's no longer "routine".

Also from Section 3:

14.3.2.4 When a fair-batted ball deflects off a fielder
playing in front of first or third base, a hit is credited to
the batter.


From the very end of Section 3, and the italics are the book's, not mine...

Note:
Always give the batter the benefit of the doubt and score a hit when exceptionally good fielding fails to result in a putout. When in doubt, scoring should always award base hits instead of charging errors.