Ball status

[BretMan]

Originally Posted by youngump

That seems to be the point of the rule clarification. But if you take that point, then what is the point of the word intentionally in 8-5-K. And then our local direction here is that a pitched ball at rest unintentionally kicked out of play is one base time of pitch.

Then this would stink...

Runner on first, stealing with the pitch. Pitch bounces off the catcher and rolls over by the dugout. As catcher chases ball, runner rounds second and heads for third.

If I'm the catcher I'm going to use my best acting skills to "accidentally" kick the ball into the dugout when I try to retrieve it. Doing so puts the runner back on second base, instead of at third base.

I've always thought that this would be a two-base award, from the time of the "kick". But I can see how the case play might not be too clear about that.