Didjya Ever Notice?

[JefferMC]

Was at a minor league baseball game Sunday and was observing the ball rotation procedures.

One instance I found humerous was after a play, the ball was returned to the infield. The base umpire called for the ball, looked at it apparently found it fit and gave it to the pitcher to use. The pitcher immediately threw it to the catcher for replacement, which the plate umpire supplied and rolled the ball to the bat boy at the home dugout.

In one instance, the catcher rolled a ball to the dugout for the bat boy and got a replacement from the plate umpire. I'm not sure if he was directed to do so by the PU or what. It only happened once, but it looked odd.

They went through a whole lot more balls than I ever see used in a FP game. Of course, we do hunt down the foul balls and return them for use.

[Tru_in_Blu]

I read or heard a few years back that the average life of a baseball in a major league game was 8 pitches.

Also, that with a count of 3-2, the next pitch is fouled off approximately 65% of the time. Maybe you could make a few bucks in a bar on that one. Eventually, the at bat will end somehow, even if it's a caught foul ball.

In a recent game, Boston's Dustin Pedroia fouled off 9 consecutive before delivering a 2-run basehit.