What Constitutes a Fielding Error in Baseball?
According to the official rules of Major League Baseball, an error is charged against "a fielder whose action has assisted the team on offense." If the action prolongs the at-bat, causes runners to advance or just to stay put (rather than being put out), the scorer might rule an error.
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Scorer
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The official scorer has the final say on what play constitutes an error in a baseball game. The scorer bases his decision on the rules of the game and on whether the ball was playable or should have been.
Muffs and Misplays
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A ball that rolls past the fielder or a throw that sails wide are usually ruled errors if the scorer feels the ball should have been caught or cleanly fielded.
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Mistakes
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A fielder who throws to the wrong base or fails to back up a position on the field is not charged with an error. Slow fielding, where the ball is handled cleanly but not thrown in time, is also not charged as an error.
Mental Errors
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Forgetting how many outs there are and tossing the ball away or rolling the ball to the pitcher's mound instead of throwing it are counted as errors.
Effort
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If the scorer feels the fielder did not exhibit reasonable effort to catch or throw the ball, he will charge an error.
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References
- Photo Credit baseball shortstop image by steven hendricks from Fotolia.com
