Editing Official scorer (section)

====Fielder's choice====
In the rules of baseball, aside from the rare case of interference or obstruction, a batter who puts a ball into play and safely reaches first base is ruled to have reached in one of three possible ways: a hit, an error, or by fielder's choice.<ref>Wirkmaa, p.47</ref> Fielder's choice is primarily discussed in rules 10.05 and 10.06, and it generally occurs when it is judged that a batter-runner would have been put out had the defense chosen to do so.<ref name="bbskFC">Wirkmaa, pp.58–69</ref><ref name="bbskVoH">Wirkmaa, pp.70–81</ref>

Most judgment calls made by the official scorer under this rule occur in three situations: when an infielder, pitcher, or catcher attempts to put out an unforced preceding runner who is attempting to advance one base, when any fielder attempts and fails to put out a forced preceding runner, and when any fielder attempts and fails to put out an unforced preceding runner who returns to their original base. In these situations, the official scorer is required to determine whether the batter-runner would have safely reached first base if the defense made an ordinary effort to put him out. If the defense could not be reasonably expected to make the play, the batter is credited with a hit, otherwise he is ruled to have reached by fielder's choice. If an error is made on the attempt to put out a preceding runner, that has no impact on this decision. It is instead noted to have occurred in addition to the hit or fielder's choice.<ref name="bbskFC" />

In some cases the official scorer is not given the discretion to decide between awarding a hit to the batter or ruling that he safely reached first base by fielder's choice. If a preceding runner is forced out or if an unforced preceding runner is put out while attempting to return to their original base, a hit is automatically not credited and the batter by rule is judged to have reached by a fielder's choice. In some situations this rule may appear unfair to the batter. For example, if the batter is a fast runner, the ball is slowly hit to the third baseman, and an unforced runner from second realizes (too late) that he can not safely advance, the batter-runner will lose the potential hit on a fielder's choice by the third baseman. This occurs regardless of whether the batter-runner would have reached first base with an ordinary effort to put him out.<ref name="bbskFC" />