Author Topic: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....  (Read 13766 times)

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Offline Ralph Damren

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Lil' Junior is about to come to bat when the coach instructs him : "Junior, you & I both know you can't hit the ball, so don't swing. Take every pitch and maybe you'll walk." There are no inadvertent foul balls, illegal pitches or the such. What is the MAXIMUM number of pitches Lil' Junior can take before he either walks or strikes out ??? ::)??

maven

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2013, 10:22:32 AM »
Which rule set? OBR, NCAA, and NFHS are different. And what is an "inadvertent" foul ball?

If the rule differences don't matter, and everything goofy is supposed to be excluded by the question, then he'll either walk or strike out by the 6th pitch.

For the question to have any interest, you can't mean to exclude everything goofy.

Offline Ralph Damren

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2013, 10:26:08 AM »
"Inadvertent" foul ball is meant to mean an inside pitch that hits the bat. Hint #1: 2 outs & Big ole' Bubba @ 1st. :)

younggun

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2013, 10:32:12 AM »
11

Offline Ralph Damren

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2013, 11:51:15 AM »
You're very close, Younggun. Reread the question and focus on the word "before". :)

younggun

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2013, 01:32:35 PM »
10

Offline Ralph Damren

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2013, 01:44:07 PM »
Good job, Younggun. (1) Lil' Junior runs the count to 3-2; (2) Big ole' Bubba, running at 1st and taking a lead, is more interested in the prom queen picking posies then he is of Lefty, the pitcher; (3) Lefty picks off big ole' Bubba; (4) "Stranded" at bat, Junior leads off the next inning with a new count; (5) Junior again works the count to 3-2 and then (a) takes strike three :'(; (b) takes ball four ;D -- depending on if you wanted a sad or happy ending to the story. Cheer up, guys, football season will be here soon. :)

maven

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2013, 02:00:28 PM »
Your question did not include reference to any other runners. Baseball umpires refer to that as "cheating." :p

Your answer is also incorrect.

Junior having walked in your scenario (b), the defense now appeals batting out of order, since Shorty was the proper batter. Junior is removed from base, and Shorty is called out.

Junior comes up to bat, faces 5 more pitches, and walks again. Alas, Lefty was the proper batter, the defense appeals BOO again, and Lefty is called out. 2 outs.

Junior comes up to bat yet again, faces 5 more pitches, and walks again. Unbelievable perhaps, but Chuck was the proper batter, the defense appeals BOO again, and the side is retired.

Junior comes up to lead off the next half inning, faces 5 more pitches, and walks again. Well, wouldn't you know, but he's out of order....;)

You'll complain that he walked the first time the defense appealed BOO, so the correct answer is still 10. But that's NOT what the box score will record, so it never happened: since he did not legally reach base, he did not in fact walk.

You should be able to get through the entire lineup with BOO, making the correct answer something like 50 pitches.

Offline Ralph Damren

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2013, 07:36:36 AM »
Good points, maven, having a string of batters hitting out of turn certainly would fall into the "goofy" category ;D. Having a runner picked off or caught stealing is relatively common and , if it occurs with two outs, the "stranded" batter leads off the next inning. While the box score will record only one at bat, the infamous pitch count would reflect the accurate amount of pitches thrown to Junior.

Offline Wingmanbp

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2013, 12:38:58 PM »
Good job, Younggun. (1) Lil' Junior runs the count to 3-2; (2) Big ole' Bubba, running at 1st and taking a lead, is more interested in the prom queen picking posies then he is of Lefty, the pitcher; (3) Lefty picks off big ole' Bubba; (4) "Stranded" at bat, Junior leads off the next inning with a new count; (5) Junior again works the count to 3-2 and then (a) takes strike three :'(; (b) takes ball four ;D -- depending on if you wanted a sad or happy ending to the story. Cheer up, guys, football season will be here soon. :)
So the answer is 11 and not 10. If he goes to 3/2 the first time and again the second time then the count would either be 4/2 or 3/4. Because without that last pitch he will not have a BOB or a strike out.

Offline bama_stripes

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2013, 01:39:33 PM »
So the answer is 11 and not 10. If he goes to 3/2 the first time and again the second time then the count would either be 4/2 or 3/4. Because without that last pitch he will not have a BOB or a strike out.

The OP stated "before he either walks or strikes out ."  10 is correct.

Offline Wingmanbp

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2013, 02:49:35 PM »
The OP stated "before he either walks or strikes out ."  10 is correct.
That is before he walks or stikes out ;D
He cant do either one before that final pitch

Offline jgf6

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #12 on: August 02, 2013, 05:37:36 PM »
Try this one:

How can a team in one-half inning hit 3 triples, 3 singles and not score a run?

maven

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A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #13 on: August 02, 2013, 09:59:09 PM »
Try this one:

How can a team in one-half inning hit 3 triples, 3 singles and not score a run?

B1 triples and is picked off 3B, 1 out.

B2 triples and is picked off 3B, 2 out.

B3 singles, R1, 2 out.

B4 singles, R1, R2, 2 out.

B5 singles, bases loaded, 2 out.

B6 triples. R2 misses 3B, the defense appeals at the end of playing action. Appeal upheld, force play, no runs (4.09).

Offline jgf6

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2013, 12:13:33 PM »
Maven, I like it but one question. If R2 misses 3rd and the appeal is made, is B6 credited with a triple or a single?

maven

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A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #15 on: August 03, 2013, 12:52:07 PM »
Triple. He cleared the based. If the appeal is denied, all runs score.


maven

Offline jgf6

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #16 on: August 03, 2013, 01:45:04 PM »
That's correct about the appeal being denied, but it wasn't. Therefore, once the appeal is accepted the inning is over. If you credit B6 with a triple then you would have to score R1 and R3. Since the inning is over with the appeal, even though it is delayed, B6 is credited with a single.

Offline Ralph Damren

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #17 on: August 06, 2013, 10:15:18 AM »
You're right on missing a base turning a triple into a single. How about : (1) A triples & is picked off; (2) B triples & is picked off; (3) C triples; (4) D hits an infield single, but C doesn't dare to run; (5) E hits another infield single, but C still doesn't dare to run; (6) F hits another infield single and C still doesn't run, but D is declared out for passing C AFTER F reaches first. That's my best guess.

Offline jgf6

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #18 on: August 08, 2013, 10:16:43 AM »
Ralph - If C scores at all, his run counts because this is a delayed-dead-ball. It is an appeal play, even though it doesn't have to be appealed by the opponent. If C scores, his run counts because he scored before the 3rd out was made and this is not an appeal on a missed base by a runner who was forced to touch the next base legally. If C did not score at all, the out by D is scored as unassisted to the nearest infielder and the batter is credited with a FC. Still missing a single.

Offline Ralph Damren

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Re: A baseball riddle for football officials/coaches or whatever....
« Reply #19 on: August 12, 2013, 08:19:11 AM »
Passing a lead runner becomes an out when the trailing runner passes him. If C is anchored at 3rd, D wouldn't be out until he had touched 3rd and passed C. My understanding is ,where D reached 3rd safely, the scoring would be single for F with putout probably given to the  3rd baseman.(8-4-2m NFHS). Passing a lead runner that results in the 3rd out would be a time play, and if the batter-runner had passed 1st & the runner from 2nd had passed 3rd, I'd score it as a base hit. If both C & D ended up standing at 3rd, C would be out when tagged as he is forced to advance = FC for batter.