It seems "safer" to just follow the rules...
Yep, probably so.
It seems "safer" to just follow the rules...
However, if you a situation such as: Tied game, bottom of 7th, runner on 3rd with 1 out. Batter drops a bunt right in front of the plate and the catcher holds the ball at the plate preventing the winning run from scoring, then that is a case for defensive indifference because the batter/runner is of no consequence to the game.
I was at DD's practice one night and there was another game going on at the field behind me. Just for fun, I found that one team was scoring it. EVERY ball went to the catcher. Line drive to the outfield - scored as a line drive double to the catcher. It gets caught in the outfield - fly ball to the catcher. I'm not sure why they were even scoring the game. At least they got the runs correct. I can just imagine how many fielding chances their catcher had.Just as a side note... I was streaming the GC radio of a local high school scrimmage game. The scoring was that the batter had a "double on a ground ball to short stop". What???