Today, we honor and celebrate the amazing mothers who have touched our lives with their love and kindness.
On behalf of the Central Ohio MABL, Happy Mother's Day!
Definition
A fielder is given an error if, in the judgment of the official scorer, he fails to convert an out on a play that an average fielder should have made. Fielders can also be given errors if they make a poor play that allows one or more runners to advance on the bases. A batter does not necessarily need to reach base for a fielder to be given an error. If he drops a foul ball that extends an at-bat, that fielder can also be assessed an error.
Defensive errors are a factor in some statistical equations. For instance, batters do not receive RBIs for any runs that would not have scored without the help of an error. And pitchers are not assessed any earned runs for runs that would not have scored without the error.
Definition
A hit occurs when a batter strikes the baseball into fair territory and reaches base without doing so via an error or a fielder's choice. There are four types of hits in baseball: singles, doubles, triples and home runs. All four are counted equally when deciphering batting average. If a player is thrown out attempting to take an extra base (e.g., turning a single into a double), that still counts as a hit.
Hits come in all varieties. Some can be hard-hit balls or long home runs. Others can be slow bouncers in the infield -- or even bunts -- where the batter reaches first base before the throw. (These are called "infield hits.") Hits are also credited to the batter when the ball takes an awkward bounce that a defender cannot field (provided the scorer rules that the batter didn't reach base with the help of an error).
Definition
An earned run is any run that scores against a pitcher without the benefit of an error or a passed ball. Often, it is the judgment of the official scorer as to whether a specific run would've scored without the defensive mishap. If a pitcher exits a game with runners on base, any earned runs scored by those runners will count against him.
Earned runs is the key counting statistic used in ERA, the most widely accepted barometer of a pitcher's success.
If there are no errors or passed balls in a given inning or game, all the runs in that inning or game are earned runs.
