Can you name the 8 different ways that a major league baseball player can find himself safe at first base...

trivia/first.base New

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

Problem

Can you name the 8 different ways that a major league baseball player
can find himself safe at first base [Editor: "first place" in the
original]?  And by different I mean, for
example, a hit is one way, rather than counting a single as double as
2 different ways.

-- Norm Heske <freeopin@ix.netcom.com>

[ Editor: a related version, October 1997: ]

There are 5 ways a player could be on first base
without getting a hit.  What are they?

-- Maniac

Show solution

This is it:

1) Hit
2) Walk
3) Error
4) 3rd strike, passed ball
5) 3rd strike, wild pitch
6) Hit by pitch
7) Fielder's choice
8) Catcher's interference
9) Defensive interference (someone blocks his path)
10) CATCHER'S BALK - this is the unknown one - it's when the catcher
is outside of the catcher's box.

-- Gary "The Donger" Asuncion <bc80115@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu>,
   March 1995

Assuming that the answer isn't that the player is the first baseman.

1. he is walked
2. he is hit by the pitch
3. the catcher drops the third strike, and he beats out the throw to
first
4. a fielding error occurs
5. he is put in as a pinch runner

-- Jacob Lipman <jlipman@mitre.org>, October 1997

The following ways of getting on first are in the rec.sport.baseball
FAQ.  (The numbers in brackets refer to the official rules of major
league baseball.)  I keep them handy for every time this comes up on
rec.puzzles.  (a la Chris Cole)

 1. Base on balls. [6.08(a)]
 2. Hit by pitch unless the ball is in the strike zone or the batter
    makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball. [6.08(b)]
 3. The catcher or any fielder interferes with him. [6.08(c)]
 4. A fair batted ball touches an umpire or runner before touching a
    fielder. [6.08(d)]
 5. Base hit.
 6. Error by fielder.
 7. Fielder's choice.
 8. Obstruction. [7.06(a)]
 9. Dropped/missed third strike. [6.09(b), 10.14(f)]

As you can see there are actually nine ways to reach first, so there
are eight, not five, ways to reach without a base hit.

-- Timothy E. Vaughan <tvaughan@epore.mit.edu>

[ Editor: see also the baseball items in the entry "nugry.treasury". ]