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Ways to get on first base


tmh8286

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I came across this little piece of trivia today and thought I'd share it - without Googling to find the answer, does anyone know how many ways there are for a player to get on first base?  I was very surprised.

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This is a discussion I've heard many times while sitting at my kids baseball games.  It's always fun to try to come up with all of them. 

I'll start the list with Catcher Interference

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Here are my offerings (I'm sure that there are more):

Hit (Single)

Hit by pitched ball

Dropped third strike

Error

Base on Balls (e.g., Walk)

Fielder's Choice

Defensive Obstruction

Bad call by Umpire

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Bogus covered most of the ones that came to my mind.  Some would say that an intentional base on balls is separate from a walk, and in a literal interpretation, you can get to first base as a pinch-runner.

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I think they have all been named.... at least the non-exotic ones.

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Good job, guys!  You came up with eleven ways - that's almost half of the answers!!

Okay, here's the list I found.  I'm just repeating it - so if you disagree, I'm not the one to talk to.  You have to really get nuanced to consider some of these unique to each other - kind of like base on balls vs. intentional walk, as blue said.

According to Eric Enders, researcher for the Baseball Hall of Fame, there are twenty three ways to reach first (I'll highlight the ones you guys got):

Walk

intentional walk

hit by pitch

dropped third strike

failure to deliver pitch within 20 seconds

catcher interference

fielder interference

spectator interference

fan obstruction

fair ball hits umpire

fair ball hits runner

fielder obstructs runner

pinch-runner

fielder's choice

force out at another base

preceding runner put-out allows batter to reach first

sac bunt fails to advance runner

sac fly dropped

runner called out on appeal

error

four illegal pitches

game is suspended with a runner on first and that player is traded

    prior to the makeup, another player takes his place

Single

I don't see bad call by ump listed, although it makes sense.

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Some of those answers are repetitive (to me).  A sac fly dropped is an error.    Force out at another base is a fielder's choice.

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Some of those answers are repetitive (to me).  A sac fly dropped is an error.    Force out at another base is a fielder's choice.

I'd tend to agree.

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I've been pondering this a little and need some help from some of you more knowledgeable baseball fans.  If a dropped sac fly is listed separately from an "error", explain to me why each type of error isn't listed - a bobbled ball by an infielder, or a wild throw to first?

Something I've always wondered about - does a sacrifice bunt or fly count as an at bat?  Both are listed if the attempt fails - maybe the reason they are considered separately from from another kind of error is because they wouldn't be counted as an at bat if the player had been thrown out at first. 

Or maybe not :-) . . .

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I don't see bad call by ump listed, although it makes sense.

While you might get a lot of support from fans (and managers) for adding "Bad Call" as an official statistic, by rule even the worst call imaginable must be categorized by the official scorer as one of the other choices previously listed.

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TheEagleman once got to first base with a cute blonde from Braxton over at the old Drive In on 71st St.....does that count?.... :-D

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I knew that was coming sooner or later from the Eagleman  :wink:

(And there was a Drive Inn on 71st?)

Ok, how about this-- How many ways are there to be called out in a game??

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(And there was a Drive Inn on 71st?)

Yep...Riverside Drive-In.  Located at the corner of 71st Street & Riverside - back when it was two-lanes and no stop lights on Riverside until you got downtown.  I think that it was taken out in the late 70's or early 80's to make way for a Shoney's restaurant (now the King China Buffet).  Oh, those were the good ol' days!!  8-)

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Ah yes....TheEagleman has some fond memories at the Riverside Drive In.....but, we will save that for another time since this is a baseball board....is there still a Pizza Hut at 71st and Lewis?....Does anybody remember Der Weinershneitzel (the drive thru hot dog place) down just below 71st and Lewis....the Boys of Youngblood used to make some midnight runs down there back around 1973-74.....and hard to believe that Goldies is still around....loved those burgers!....TheEagleman used to work at a restaurant down on Harvard called Across The Street back around 1975....anybody remember that?.....I guess it's gone.....How about Casa Bonita?...the all you could eat mexican place?.... :-D

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Ah yes....TheEagleman has some fond memories at the Riverside Drive In.....but, we will save that for another time since this is a baseball board....is there still a Pizza Hut at 71st and Lewis?....Does anybody remember Der Weinershneitzel (the drive thru hot dog place) down just below 71st and Lewis....the Boys of Youngblood used to make some midnight runs down there back around 1973-74.....and hard to believe that Goldies is still around....loved those burgers!....TheEagleman used to work at a restaurant down on Harvard called Across The Street back around 1975....anybody remember that?.....I guess it's gone.....How about Casa Bonita?...the all you could eat mexican place?.... :-D

Well, Eagleman, you'll be glad to know that the Pizza Hut is now Priscilla's Toy Box with all of the adult nighties and everything you'd expect an ORU student to want!!  :-D  Pizza Huts are in the minority in Tulsa with a regional, Tulsa-based outfit, Mazzio's, having about 65% of the Pizza Parlor market in Tulsa.  I haven't seen a Der Weinershneitzel here in Tulsa, but they are all around Germany when I go there (not the fast food, Drive-in type though).  Of course, Goldie's is still the same (pickles and all) and Casa Bonita has returned after a "spat" that changed the restaurant's name to Casa Viva and back to Casa Bonita again last July.  Where was the restaurant Across The Street?  Was that near St. Michael's at 31st & Harvard?

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Ah, yes.....St. Mikes was a favorite of TheEagleman....best cheesecake ever....I assume it's gone?.....Across The Street was a burger joint sort of an early Friday's and was on Harvard across from LaFortune Golf Course.....maybe like 54th and Harvard or something like that....after getting married before my junior year (yeah, i was a dope) TheEagleman and ex (an ORU girl) lived in apartments at 5826 So. Owasso...they were brand new then..... :-P

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Ah, yes.....St. Mikes was a favorite of TheEagleman....best cheesecake ever....I assume it's gone?.....Across The Street was a burger joint sort of an early Friday's and was on Harvard across from LaFortune Golf Course.....maybe like 54th and Harvard or something like that....after getting married before my junior year (yeah, i was a dope) TheEagleman and ex (an ORU girl) lived in apartments at 5826 So. Owasso...they were brand new then..... :-P

Yes, St. Michael's was the place back in the day (I'm sure everyone is enjoying our "Memory Lane" here!).  I remember Across The Street now - but it was on Yale and not Harvard.  It's now a Taco Cabana restaurant having been razed and rebuilt a couple of times at that location.

You really need to return for Homecoming or another event sometime soon and bring Jr. and the grandkids.  Your old apartments are now smack dab in the middle of one of the city's Hispanic communities.  Lots of "original" Mexican restaurants (not Tex-Mex) between 61st and 68th Streets on Peoria.  You would think that you were in Mexico with all of the Spanish signs along that stretch!!  One thing that hasn't changed is that Evangelistic Temple is still located at 55th & Peoria....a great church if I might say so myself!!  :-D

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