off season brain teaser

[greymule]

Wasn't that when he was still with the Red Sox? It would still qualify as a no hitter. You should remember when six Astro pitchers combined for a no-hitter against the Yankees.

The game was on June 23, 1917, when Ruth was still with the Red Sox.

Many sources include it in lists of perfect games, but I believe that official recognition was removed. It still qualifies as a no-hitter, but I don't know whether the credit goes to Shore alone or it is considered a Ruth-Shore no-hitter, in other words, a no-hitter by multiple pitchers.

As long as I can remember, a fumble "which prolongs the time at bat of a batter" has been an error. I would be interested to know when that rule was established.

[DG]

Originally Posted by greymule

[B]But a dropped foul pop, whether or not scored an error, has no bearing on a perfect game.

I assume this is because it could still be recorded as an error and the batter still makes an out and F1 still only faces 27 batters. That makes perfect sense to me.

[SanDiegoSteve]

I never knew this, but I now understand that I was wrong...

This is from the Wikipedia definition of a perfect game. (Emphasis mine):

Since 1991, a perfect game has been defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a complete game victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposition player reaches first base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any other reason—in short, "27 up, 27 down."

By definition, a perfect game must be both a no-hitter and a shutout. Since the pitcher cannot control whether or not his teammates commit any errors, the pitcher must be backed up by solid fielding to pitch a perfect game. An error that does not allow a baserunner, such as a misplayed foul ball, does not spoil a perfect game.

Several pitching performances regarded popularly as perfect games do not qualify as official under the present definition, among them weather-shortened games that featured no baserunners by one team and games in which a team reached first base only in extra innings.

[aceholleran]

Originally Posted by DG

Good one.

How about this one. How can you have 3 outs recorded on a play with a batted ball without the defense touching it? I think I saw this one here so there will be some folks who know it, but it's a good brain teaser.

I've seen two outs happen this way. You could have three.

Sacks juiced. a) B1 hits an infield fly (out 1). b) F6 loses ball in the atmosphere; the rock drops to the ground, fair and untouched. c) R2 stays put, and R1 passes him (out 2). d) 3B coacher grabs R3, who has strayed off the bag, and shoves him back to the sack (out 3).

I was doing a game where a, b and d actually occurred. Double play--no one touches the horsehide.

And a nice tension convention afterward.

ace