Editing Official scorer (section)

===Judgment calls===
Most plays in the game are resolved in such a way that the scorer is not given multiple choices when recording the outcome of the play, but several types of plays are open to the interpretation of the official scorer.<ref name="bbsk1" /> In any judgment call where the official scorer is required to decide whether to credit a hit to the batter, the scorer is guided by rule 10.05. This rule directs the official scorer to "give the benefit of the doubt to the hitter when the scorer believes that the decision to credit the batter with a hit is equally valid to an alternative scoring decision".<ref>Wirkmaa, pp.56–57</ref> In a similarly difficult judgment call where the official scorer believes that an earned [[Run (baseball)|run]] or an unearned run are equally valid scoring decisions, rule 10.16 directs the official scorer to "give the benefit of the doubt to the pitcher".<ref>Wirkmaa, p.185</ref>

====Errors====
The decision to charge an error to the defense is the most well-known responsibility of the official scorer. Some situations automatically call for an error to be charged to the defense, but most charged errors are the result of a play that requires a judgment call. Broadly speaking, an error is charged to the defense when an "ordinary effort" by the defense would have either recorded an [[Out (baseball)|out]] or prevented a runner from advancing, but the defense fails to do so. When an error is charged, the official scorer must charge the error to one of the [[Baseball positions|fielders]] who were involved in the play. Errors are primarily discussed in rule 10.12.<ref name="bbskE">Wirkmaa, pp.140–169</ref>

One exception in this rule occurs when the defense makes at least one out and attempts to complete a [[double play]] or [[triple play]]. An error is not charged in that situation if a wild throw allows the runner to reach [[Safe (baseball)|safely]]. If a wild throw allows the runner to advance an additional base, an error may then be charged for the additional advance. However, if an accurate throw is made in time to complete a double play or triple play, but the fielder on the base fails to make the catch, an error may be charged.<ref name="bbskE" />

Rule 10.12 also states that an error should not be charged for a "mental mistake" by the defense. Rather, errors are charged when the defense attempts to make a logical play against the offense, but fails to record an out or prevent an advance due to a mechanical misplay. There is one rare exception to this rule against charging an error for a "mental mistake". If a fielder fails to [[Tag out|tag]] the runner, batter, or a base in a [[Force play|force]] situation in time to record an out when he could have done so, that fielder is charged with an error.<ref name="bbskE" />

The most common judgment call involving an error occurs when the defense fails to put out a batter-runner who puts the ball in play. If the out is not recorded and the official scorer believes that an "ordinary effort" by the defense would have resulted in an out, the defense is charged with an error, and the batter is not credited with a hit. Other common situations requiring a judgment call include unintentionally dropped [[foul ball]]s that allow the batter to continue his at-bat, and poor throws to the next base when a runner attempts to advance.<ref name="bbskE" />

One of the most controversial and poorly understood situations related to the charging of an error occurs when an [[outfielder]] misjudges the flight of a ball and allows the ball to drop out of his reach. This is usually considered to be a "mental mistake" by the outfielder, so the batter is usually credited with a hit.<ref name="bbskE" /> On that topic Bill Shannon, who was an official scorer for the [[New York Yankees]], said "That's a base hit whether we like it or not. As a practical matter, we don't charge errors on those plays. No one says that baseball is entirely fair."<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |title=Errors Committed and Omitted |first=Jim |last=Luttrell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/sports/baseball/21spotlight.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 20, 2009 |access-date=October 29, 2010}}</ref> Outfielders are generally charged with an error on a [[Batted ball|fly ball]] when they arrive at the ball's destination with sufficient time to make a catch with an ordinary effort, but simply miss the catch or drop the ball.<ref name="bbskE" />

====Unearned runs====
Earned runs are runs that are directly attributable to a pitcher's efforts without a lapse by the defense. An [[unearned run]] does not adversely impact a pitcher's [[earned run average]] (ERA), and is only possible when an error (including catcher's [[Interference (baseball)|interference]]) or a [[passed ball]] occurs earlier in the inning. Unearned runs are primarily discussed in rule 10.16 and often require a judgment call by the official scorer.<ref name="bbskUER">Wirkmaa, pp.185–217</ref>

At the conclusion of an inning during which runs are scored after an error or passed ball, the official scorer attempts to recreate the events of the inning without the errors or passed balls. If in the official scorer's opinion a run would not have scored without the defensive lapses, then the run is unearned. If the scorer believes that a run would have scored anyway, the run is earned and charged to the pitcher. In one basic example, if the first batter reaches by an error, the second batter hits a [[home run]], and the next three batters [[Strikeout|strike out]], then one of the two runs scored was unearned. There are rules and restrictions which govern this general guideline.<ref name="bbskUER" />

When reconstructing an inning without errors or passed balls:

* Potential outs that were not recorded because of an error are presumed to be an out when the inning is reconstructed by the official scorer.
* [[Intentional base on balls|Intentional walks]] which were issued are still presumed to be [[Base on balls|walks]].
* Runs that are scored after what should have been the third out are automatically considered to be unearned.
* When the batter is given first base because of catcher's interference or [[Obstruction (baseball)|obstruction]], the official scorer does not presume that an out would have been recorded on that runner, but if that runner later scores the run is unearned.
* A run scored by a runner who advances due to an error or passed ball is unearned, unless it would not have made a difference in the reconstruction of the inning.<ref name="bbskUER" />

Most of the above rules are straightforward, but some judgment is required by the official scorer when a baserunner advances due to a defensive lapse and later scores. In this situation, the official scorer must decide what would have happened if the runner had not advanced. This is often an easy decision, but it can occasionally be difficult. In one difficult example with a runner on first and two outs, the batter hits a single but a defensive error allows an advance by the lead runner from second to third, and a soft run-scoring single is hit followed by an out. In that situation, the offense "should" have had runners on first and second with 2 outs when the run-scoring single was hit. Since the next batter was put out, the official scorer must decide based on the hit, the speed of the baserunner, and the positioning of the defense whether the runner would have been able to score from second in the reconstruction of the inning without the error.<ref name="bbskUER" />

====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" />

====Value of hits====
In cases where a batter indisputably gets a hit and is able to safely advance past first base on the play, the value of that hit may be adjusted by the official scorer because of an error or a fielder's choice.<ref name="bbskVoH" />

If the defense attempts to put out a preceding runner during the play, the official scorer must determine whether the batter would have reached second or third base safely had the defense attempted to limit the batter's advance. For example, if a runner on second attempts to score after a soft hit to center field and the center fielder chooses to throw to home while the batter advances to second, the official scorer must decide the value of the hit. In this situation, the scorer may either choose to credit the batter with a [[Double (baseball)|double]], or the scorer may rule that the batter hit a [[Single (baseball)|single]] with an advance to second by fielder's choice. This is often referred to as "an advance on the throw".<ref name="bbskVoH" />

If an error occurs during the play when a batter records a hit, the official scorer must determine whether the batter would have advanced as far as he did had the error not occurred. For example, if a batter hits a ball into an outfield gap, the ball is badly misplayed by an outfielder attempting to retrieve and throw the ball back into the infield, and the batter is able to reach all four bases to score, then the official scorer must decide whether an error should be charged to the outfielder. If no error is charged, then the batter would be credited with an "[[Inside-the-park home run|inside the park]]" home run. If an error is charged to the outfielder, then the batter would likely be credited with either a double or [[Triple (baseball)|triple]].<ref name="bbskVoH" />

====Wild pitch====
When a baserunner is able to advance after a pitch is not caught or controlled by the catcher, the official scorer must determine whether the advance was due to a wild pitch or a passed ball. The pitch is never considered to be an error. If a pitch is thrown so high, wide, or low in relation to the [[strike zone]] that a [[catcher]] is not able to catch or control the ball with ordinary effort before a runner can advance, the advance is ruled to have occurred by a wild pitch. Any such pitch which strikes the ground before it reaches home plate is automatically considered to be a wild pitch. However, a pitch is not a wild pitch merely because it is off-target. If the official scorer determines that the catcher should have been able to control the pitch and prevent an advance with ordinary effort, then the catcher is charged with a passed ball on the advance.<ref name="bbskWPPB">Wirkmaa, pp.170–173</ref>

One exception to this rule occurs when a baserunner attempts to [[Stolen base|steal]] a base. If the runner "starts for the next base" before the pitcher delivers the pitch, the runner is credited with a stolen base and a wild pitch or passed ball is not charged. If a wild pitch or passed ball allows a runner to advance beyond the base that is stolen, the scorer may rule that the further advance occurred by a wild pitch or passed ball.<ref name="bbskWPPB" />

====Other judgment calls====
Some relatively uncommon situations may also require a judgment call by the official scorer.

When a defensive player has the ball and can end the play by preventing further advance, but fails to do so because of a mental mistake (not an error) and a runner subsequently scores, the official scorer must decide whether to credit the batter with a [[run batted in]] (RBI). If the runner recognized the mistake after slowing or pausing his advance, an RBI is not credited. If the runner was oblivious to the mistake or runs home without slowing, the batter is credited with an RBI.<ref>Wirkmaa, p.44</ref>

If a runner advances because the defense does nothing to try to stop the advance, the scorer may rule that the advance was due to defensive indifference and no stolen base is credited. However, a throw is not required for a stolen base. If a fielder begins to visibly make an attempt to prevent an advance but then elects not to throw, the advance is not due to defensive indifference.<ref>Wirkmaa, pp.97–99</ref>

When a batter attempts a [[sacrifice bunt]] and the resulting [[Bunt (baseball)|bunt]] is so well-placed that he safely reaches first base, the official scorer may elect to credit the batter with a hit instead of a sacrifice if there is no error on the play and an ordinary effort by the defense would not have recorded an out.<ref>Wirkmaa, p.107</ref>

Finally, when the [[starting pitcher]] of the winning team does not qualify for the [[win (baseball)|win]] under rule 10.17, and the [[relief pitcher]] who would otherwise qualify for the win pitches "ineffectively" in a "brief appearance", the official scorer may choose to credit a "succeeding relief pitcher" with the win.<ref>Wirkmaa, pp.224–225</ref>