Overthrown vs lose possession

[greymule]

I would say that if the ball slips from her throwing hand, it's a throw.

I think that "loss of possession" was intended for plays like the one I had a few years ago: R1 on 2B, B2 hits a ground ball to F6, who tries to slap a tag on R1 as he runs by. The glove hits R1's knee, the ball flies out and bounds across the 3B foul line and out of play. One base from the time the ball entered DBT.

Or, R1 gets trapped in a rundown between 1B and 2B. As R1 returns to 1B, the throw goes to F3, who drops the ball. As R1 slides back into 1B, he knocks the ball into the dugout. R1 gets 2B only.

I just can't see a ball going from the hand to DBT, without some other impetus, as anything other than a throw.

[PSUchem]

Originally Posted by greymule

I would say that if the ball slips from her throwing hand, it's a throw.

I think that "loss of possession" was intended for plays like the one I had a few years ago: R1 on 2B, B2 hits a ground ball to F6, who tries to slap a tag on R1 as he runs by. The glove hits R1's knee, the ball flies out and bounds across the 3B foul line and out of play. One base from the time the ball entered DBT.

Or, R1 gets trapped in a rundown between 1B and 2B. As R1 returns to 1B, the throw goes to F3, who drops the ball. As R1 slides back into 1B, he knocks the ball into the dugout. R1 gets 2B only.

I just can't see a ball going from the hand to DBT, without some other impetus, as anything other than a throw.

I agree, greymule, that these are the more "common" plays that one thinks of when using the loss of possession rule.

On the field, for this situation the thrown ball out of play rule was applied, but after discussion later with our UIC, it was determined this should have been a loss of possession. I'm imagining football rules now. If the ball is knocked loose on the backswing it's a fumble (loss of possession), if on the forward motion, a throw.

[greymule]

I understand the football analogy, but it doesn't apply in baseball or softball. If the fielder directs the ball out of play, even accidentally, it's an overthrow. In your example, you guys had it right the first time.

I hope your UIC didn't rely on football interpretation to arrive at his softball decision.

[PSUchem]

Originally Posted by greymule

I understand the football analogy, but it doesn't apply in baseball or softball. If the fielder directs the ball out of play, even accidentally, it's an overthrow. In your example, you guys had it right the first time.

I hope your UIC didn't rely on football interpretation to arrive at his softball decision.

He didn't use the football analogy, but based on his interpretation that this was a loss of possession, I likened it to football. I think his point was that it was not thrown, because the ball slipped from the hand in a backward direction, and therefore it should not be treated like a throw.