Error or hit?

[Guest Nate]

If a batter hits a hard line Drive back at the pitcher and it goes off their glove and the batter reaches safely is this considered a hit or an error?

[Senor Azul]

In the book Baseball Scorekeeping by Andres Wirkmaa, the author writes the following about hard hit balls right at a fielder (2003 edition, p. 48)…

In the ordinary scheme of things, hitting a ball right to a fielder is a failure on the part of a batter because it usually results in the batter being put out. However, if a ball is hit right at a fielder with such extraordinary velocity and ferocity that the fielder has no reasonable chance of fielding the ball cleanly it’s every bit as good as hitting the ball beyond the fielder’s reach.

A ball hit in such a manner is often described as a ball that “ate up” the fielder, and the player who batted the ball and reached base safely plainly deserves credit for a base hit.

 

2021 OBR rule 9.05(a) The Official Scorer shall credit a batter with a base hit when:

(2) the batter reaches first base safely on a fair ball hit with such force, or so slowly, that any fielder attempting to make a play with the ball has no opportunity to do so;

Rule 9.05(a)(2) Comment: The Official Scorer shall credit a hit if the fielder attempting to handle the ball cannot make a play, even if such fielder deflects the ball from or cuts off another fielder who could have put out a runner.

Rule 9.05(a) Comment: In applying Rule 9.05(a), the Official Scorer shall always give the batter the benefit of the doubt. A safe course for the Official Scorer to follow is to score a hit when exceptionally good fielding of a ball fails to result in a putout.

[beerguy55]

As a scorekeeper, I'd be scoring a hit.   Always give the benefit of the doubt to the hitter.  As a rule of thumb, an error is attributed to a fielder who "should have" been able to make the play, without extraordinary effort.  And on the other side, you're acknowledging the batter "should have" got out, and you don't want to reward him with a hit.  It's not always  an exact science, but many plays are quite obvious.  A screaming line drive that happens to hit the glove (or any other part of the pitcher) is not a play they typically "should have" made.  Conversely, if the fielder did make the play it would typically make highlight reels as a play of the night/week/month, and anyone watching would describe the hitter as being "robbed" on the play.

Think of words like easy, routine, typical, standard, everyday, can of corn, tailor-made...if you can't use those words to describe the play, then the batter has probably earned himself a hit, rather than calling it an error.