Passed balls vs wild pitch
2016/7/15 17:21:13
Question
Our coach seems to have a different view of passed ball vs wild pitch. His daughter is pitcher. He rules passed ball on catcher even when a runner doesn't advance or there's not a runner on base. I say this is wrong. Also, his daughter throws knuckle ball which mostly hits the dirt or right on the plate, which causes the ball to shoot off in a variety of directions. Catcher attempts to block, but misses. He rules as passed ball. Can you please clarify the difference? It's driving me crazy. Thanks.
Answer
With no runner on base or no advance of the runner, in other words, no harm no foul, the pitch is nothing as far as PB or WP.
Any pitch that hits the ground prior to reaching the catcher and allows a runner to advance is a WP. It is only a PB if the catcher should have made the catch with ordinary effort and doesn't, allowing a runner to advance. Blocking a ball is beyond ordinary effort.
I am pretty unbiased on this one, I have one daughter who is a catcher and one daughter who is a pitcher!
More often than not, when the ball gets past the catcher, it is a WP.
Tom
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