If the leadoff hitter in the lineup of the visiting team comes up to bat in every inning of a nine-inning...

logic/leadoff.hitter New

New entry, edited from material collected for the archive and not yet in a released version.

Problem

If the leadoff hitter in the lineup of the visiting team comes up to bat
in every inning of a nine-inning game, what is the minimum number of runs
the visiting team can score?

-- marshall@lmsc.lockheed.com

Show solution

In article <35vf4d$c9t@alchemy.ithaca.ny.us>, Courtenay Footman writes:

> Straightforward answer:  8 times through the lineup times 9 plus one
> equals 73 plate appearances, minus 27 men left on base and 27 outs
> for 73 - 54 = 19 runs.
>
> Loophole answer:  0.

No loophole needed.

In the first inning, the team leaves the bases loaded, with the #6
hitter making the last out.  In the second inning, the #7 and #8 hitters
strike out, and the #9 hitter walks.  The leadoff hitter now comes up to
bat.  He takes the first pitch, and the runner is thrown out stealing.
Since the leadoff hitter didn't finish the at-bat, he leads off the next
inning as well; now repeat the above process.

-- David Grabiner <grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu>

[ Editor: so the answer is 0 runs. ]