Here is the situation: Runner on first base and the batter hits a looping fly ball into shallow rightfield that falls between the second baseman and rightfielder. The runner advances part of the way toward second and watches to see if the ball is caught. The righfielder fields the ball on the first bounce and throws to the shortstop covering second base for the forceout. Does this have to be scored a fielder's choice or can it be a hit and a 9-6 put-out?

No option, fielder's choice all the way.

I have fudged this at the Little League level to give the kid a hit, but at high school or comparable or higher level you have to go by the book.

Only in little league (or other 12 and under) would I score this a hit - and even then only if it was getting towards the end of the year and the player in question was still batting .000. In those situations, if he hits the ball and makes it to first, I am going to find a way to make that a hit

Uh-Oh. Be prepared for the "this is why stats in High School are meaningless" crowd.

ooops I forgot about those guys - and even with the 12 and under caveat, I am sure this will come back to haunt me...

Very interesting question. When you talk about going "by the book", sometimes the book isn't always consistent.

OBR says this:
10.05 A base hit shall be scored ... when a batter reaches first base safely on a fair ball which has not been touched by a fielder and which is in fair territory when it reaches the outfield.

In the scenario presented here, the ball had not been touched by a fielder when it reached fair territory in the outfield. So based on this, it seems like it could qualify as a hit.

But on the other hand, it also says this:
10.06 "A base hit shall not be scored ... when a runner is forced out by a batte ball ..."

This would seem to apply as well. Does it take precedence over 10.05?

Is it a fielders choice? Again from OBR, "FIELDER'S CHOICE is the act of a fielder who handles a fair grounder and, instead of throwing to first base to put out the batter runner, throws to another base in an attempt to put out a preceding runner."

Here, as described in the post, it wasn't a grounder. Also he didn't really throw to 2nd instead of trying to get the batter out, he threw because that was his only play.


So I'll leave it at that and let others comment. Guess that's what makes scorekeeping so interesting!

I've seen it happened like described above on a few occasions. Sometimes its because the runner on first doesn't take off in time because he's waiting to see if the ball is caught or if he's just a slow runner or if they just caught him napping. It just doesn't seem fair to the hitter.

General rules of interpretation are that more specific rules take precedence over more general rules. So, there is no question that this is not scored a hit.