AboutBrian Flaspohler Expertise Questions about baseball rules, general information about the game, statistical analysis, questions about players, questions about Baseball records. I am a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a lifelong baseball fanatic.
Experience Lifelong fan, article about player movement from team to team throughout history.
bretman writes on 2008-08-03 05:26:37
1) It makes more sense if you think of this as it is properly refered to by the rule book- not as a "dropped" third strike, but rather as an "uncaught" third strike.
The catcher must catch the third strike "in flight", before it touches the ground. If the pitch bounces in the dirt, then is secured by the catcher, that does not meet the rule book definition of a "caught" third strike.
The definition of "a catch" is the same for a third strike as it is for a batted ball. If a batted ball hits the ground before being controlled by the fielder, that is not a legal catch for an out.
Same for the pitched ball on strike three. The ball must be caught "in flight" to meet the requirements of a legal catch.
The actual rule, as written, says nothing about the catcher "dropping" the ball. The rule does require that the third strike be legally caught.
2) The rule says that with fewer than two outs and first base occupied the batter does not become a runner when the third strike is not legally caught.
For the purpose of determing if first base is occupied, you look at which base the runner had last touched AT THE TIME OF THE PITCH.
It doesn't matter if the runner on first was stealing. His last base occupied at the time of the pitch was first base.
The only possible way (and this is an exceedingly rare possibility!) the runner could not be considered as occupying first base at the time of the pitch would be if he was stealing and touched second BEFORE the pitcher made any motion to deliver the pitch. You will probably never see that happen...
