Contrarian, you're absolutely right the key phrase is the one that you have in italics AND you have hit on the key point about the offical scorer's judgement. YES, It is the offical scorer's task to reconstruct the events in a linear fashion AND if the runner didn't actually score on the error (if the error simply loaded the bases) THEN yes after the subsequent homerun, 5 earned runs would have been given. BUT once the runner scores on the error, paragraph one of the rule says that the pitcher is ALWAYS given the BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT!!!(Galaraga could have been picked off or he could have been caught stealing if he had remained on 3rd. So once the run scores (not the fault of the pitcher), the pitcher is relieved of his responsibility. Sorry I used caps because I'm not as computer savvy. that's my interpretation but since it's a judgement call it's debatable. I went to this rule thinking that there would be 5 or 6 clear statements that would read as easy as the 10 commandments but it's about as lenghty as the Warren commision report. It's a very involved rule and we don't get everything in the play by play. Could be the SIM simply gave an offical scorer's judgement. Thanks for bringing facts to the discussion.
5/9/2012 9:23 AM (edited)