In our last column, the first one devoted to earned and unearned runs, we offered this layman's definition:
“An unearned run is one that would not have scored in the inning had there been no errors or passed balls committed.”
And we provided two of the primary rules for the scorer to follow as he tries to make the earned/unearned determination:
First, if there were no errors or passed balls in the inning, all runs must be earned.
Second, wait until the inning is over before trying to decide.
Here's an example designed to show why the second rule is important:
In a play taken directly from the championship game of a recent ASA Men's Major National fast-pitch softball tournament, the visiting team snapped a scoreless tie in the top half of the seventh (final) inning. The leadoff batter lined a single into left-center. The left fielder misplayed the ball, falling down as it rolled to the fence and the batter circled the bases. It was scored a single and a three-base error.
Moments later, writers in the press box were surprised when the official scorer announced after the inning that the run was earned. Here's why it was:
After two outs in the same inning, there followed a single and a double before the third out was made. The scorer ruled correctly that the subsequent hits would have scored the run even without the error; thus, the run is earned.
This type of situation is very common, and it underscores the necessity of waiting until the inning is over.
Here's another basic principle of answering the earned/unearned question:
Any runs are unearned if they are scored after the third out would have been recorded had there been no errors or passed balls.
Here's an overstated example:
The first two batters of the inning are retired. The third batter reaches base on an error. The fourth batter hits a two-run homer. Not only are both the runs unearned, but even if the next five batters homered, all would be unearned because of the aforementioned “third-out principle.”
However, this rule does not apply to individual statistics when there is a pitching change made during the rally. The reliever does not get the benefit of the rule. That is to say, in the example above, if the reliever came in after the fourth batter's homer, the fifth batter's homer would be earned against the reliever's record.
Indeed, it is a little-known fact that a run can be both unearned (against the team ERA) and earned (against an individual's ERA). That would be the case in the example above.
Some innings can be very complex. See if you can figure out how many runs were earned in this example (there are no pitching changes in this one):
Batter A singles. Batter B reaches on an error, with A stopping at second. Batter C sacrifices both runners up a base. Batter D singles, scoring A, with B stopping at third. Batter E hits a sacrifice fly, scoring B. Batter F walks, D moving to second. Batter G triples, scoring both D and F. Batter H strikes out.
How many of the four runs are earned?
We'll have the answer in our next column when we continue the earned/unearned discussion.
