What Is A Passed Ball In Baseball?

A passed ball is a baseball term used when a pitch is thrown by the pitcher and not caught by the catcher. This can happen when the catcher is not in the correct position to catch the pitch, or if the pitch is thrown too high or too low for the catcher to reach.

What is a passed ball?

A passed ball is a statistic credited to a pitcher when a catcher fails to catch a pitch that, in the opinion of the official scorekeeper, he should have caught with ordinary effort, and which allows one or more baserunners to advance. A wild pitch is not charged as a passed ball.

Rules regarding passed balls

In baseball, a passed ball is a pitch that the catcher fails to catch, allowing a baserunner or runners to advance. The official scorer in Major League Baseball (MLB) is responsible for awarding a passed ball to a pitcher, and the catcher is charged with an error. There are different rules regarding passed balls for different levels of play.

Official Baseball Rule 5.09(b)

A passed ball is charged when a batter or runner advances because a fielder permits a wild pitch or a legal pitch (one not intentionally thrown wide of the plate) to go through him.

A runner advance on a passed ball is not counted as a stolen base – see Rule 5.05(a)(3).

Scoring a run on a passed ball

In baseball, a passed ball is charged against a catcher when he fails to hold or control a legal pitch, allowing a baserunner or runners to advance. In order for a baserunner or runners to score on a passed ball, the following must happen:

-The pitch must be legal and not blocked by the catcher.
-The catcher must not have controlled the pitch.
-The baserunner or runners must be forced to advance by the pitch.

If any of the above conditions are not met, the play will be ruled an error on the catcher instead of a passed ball.

Examples of passed balls

In baseball, a passed ball is a ball that the catcher should have caught with ordinary effort, but fails to do so. This is distinguished from a wild pitch, which is a pitch that the catcher does not catch because it is too high, too low, or too far outside.

Passed ball by Aroldis Chapman

A passed ball occurs when a pitch is not caught by the catcher despite the fact that he was in position to do so. A number of factors can contribute to a passed ball, such as a pitch that is too high for the catcher to reach, or a pitch that breaks unexpectedly. The most common type of passed ball occurs when a fastball slides by the catcher’s glove due to its speed.

One famous example of a passed ball occurred during an MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies in 2010. Aroldis Chapman, then a rookie for the Reds, was pitching against the Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki. Chapman’s fastball was clocked at 105 miles per hour, which is one of the fastest pitches ever thrown in an MLB game. Tulowitzki swung at the pitch and missed, but the catcher, Ramon Hernandez, was unable to hold onto it. The ball flew past him and all the way to the backstop, allowing Tulowitzki to steal second base.

While Chapman’s 105 mph fastball may have been one of the most memorable examples of a passed ball, it certainly wasn’t the only one. In fact, even some of baseball’s greatest players have had passed balls occur during their careers. New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra had his fair share of passed balls during his 19 seasons behind home plate. In 1955 alone, he had 18 passed balls while catching for fellow Yankee great Whitey Ford.

Passed ball by Kenley Jansen

On May 5, 2016, Kenley Jansen of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a passed ball against the Cincinnati Reds. The ball went off the glove of catcher Yasmani Grandal and rolled to the backstop, allowing a run to score.

Conclusion

In baseball, a passed ball is a pitch that the catcher should have caught with ordinary effort, but did not due to poor handling or misjudgment. A pitcher is not charged with a balk when a wild pitch or passed ball occurs.