Baseball can be fantastically goofy

A couple of weeks ago I covered a lower level high school game in which the following happened.

Seldom-used pinch hitter at the plate swings and misses at a high pitch for strike three. The ball popped out of the catcher's mitt as he stood up to catch it. The ball landed on home plate. Not immediately aware he can run to first place due to the dropped third strike, the batter stands there for two seconds. The catcher, meanwhile, ran to the backstop thinking that's where the ball has gone. The pitcher sees the ball has landed on the plate and runs to retrieve it. He throws out the batter by a step at first base, thus recording a strikeout AND an assist on the same play.

That's what I like about baseball and fastpitch softball - you're almost always guaranteed to see something you never have. I'm curious if any of you have covered baseball/fastpitch softball games in which something equally kooky has happened.

 

I have one of those off-the-wall stories: I turned on ESPN's baseball coverage and the Yankees and Red Sox were NOT being discussed.

 

There are more than two teams in MLB?

 

five strikeouts in an inning is always solid

 

Those losses where the pitcher threw a no-hitter in softball always amuse me.

 

I saw a batter's interference and then a catcher's interference, scoring the winning run from third on an attempted squeeze play.
I've rarely seen interference called at all at the high school level, but to see it called on consecutive batters was strange.

 

Since college softball has that nice little rule that still says you can re-insert starters after removing them from the game, I have seen a few times the winning pitcher be eligible for the win and a save. But the stat rules do specifically forbid that. Still makes for a stupid battery in the scoreline:

Thomas, Jones (6), Thomas (6) and Davis.

 

can't recall the particulars, but a few years ago i saw a high school baseball team turn a triple play without recording an actual out... base running blunders and batting out of order, or something of that nature, maybe a runner missed a base too, or something... can't remember exactly, but it was pretty cool to witness

 

Softball is funny because the fields are so small and it's not uncommon to see someone hit the ball to the outfield and still get thrown out at first base.

 

I've got two more from my year in my past life as a college softball SID. As the SID of the higher seed team, I was serving as the scorekeeper for a game in our conference tournament. We were in the field and a girl from the other team hits a grounder past second and we force out the baserunner at second. I call out the scoring for the putout --- 4-8. Yes, the second baseman threw out to the centerfielder who was playing shallow.

Then last summer when my team played in the NCAA Regionals against UGA in Athens. Their winning pitcher pitched in the game THREE times and allowed all the outs. She started the game, was taken out in the fourth and then reinserted soon after when the reliever gave up a few runs. After another inning or two, they put in another pitcher. This time, they just shifted the pitcher to the outfield and when the 2nd reliever choked, the starting pitcher came in once again and shut down the rest of the batters.

 

I covered an American Legion District tournament in New York last summer. The team I was covering needed to win two games to win the tournament.

Win and force the second game of a doubleheader.

Coach started his ace in the first game, and the team scores seven runs in the bottom of the first. Coach pulls his ace after two innings and brings him back for the second game.

Kid comes back and throws 10 innings in a game his team eventually lost in the 13th inning after the catcher dropped the game-ending third strike on an extremely catchable pitch. Team would have won.

Next batter won the game with a base hit.

 

I actually did that myself in a slo-pitch game a few years ago. And wasn't anybody taking the win and save away from me.