Dead ball on dropped third strike

Question
Bases loaded, no outs. The batter strikes out but the catcher drops the ball. The umpire calls the batter out sine first base is occupied which is correct. But the catcher for some reason throws to first base. The throw goes over the first baseman's head. The runner from third and second score. Then the ump sends everyone back to their base and states after the strikeout it is an automatic dead ball. Is this correct?

Answer
Hi John,

Thank you for your question.  Wow, what a messy play!

You know the first part of the dropped third strike rule very well.  Indeed, the struck-out batter was automatically out since 1B was occupied at the time of the pitch with fewer than two outs.  Let's give the catcher the benefit of the doubt and assume she threw down to 1B after the strikeout in an attempt to decoy to home plate the runner who was on 3B, hoping to get a quick throw back from F3 and an easy tag.  No matter why she threw down to 1B, an errant throw resulted, and the result of that throw was two runs.  I presume, as well, that the runner who was on 1B advanced all the way to 3B.

The umpire stated INCORRECTLY that the strikeout resulted in an automatic dead ball.  If they really did believe that, then why didn't they kill the play the instant the batter struck out, instead of at the end of playing action?  It was actually an ordinary live-ball out, and the three runners who were already on base were entitled to advance at their own risk.  The offense should have protested the incorrect ruling, as it hurt them considerably.  If the umpire realized their error, or an on-site UIC honored the offense's protest and rectified the play, then it would have been a very easy mess to clean up.  The batter remains out, two runs score, and the runner who was on 1B stays on the base she had reached when the umpire ruled the play dead.  I hope that was the outcome in your game!

Scott Kelly