The other day, the Cubs had men on first & second w/ one out. The next batter hit a two hopper to the left of the shortstop...leading him toward second base. The baserunner on 2nd had to stop so as not to get hit by the ball on the second hop. The end result was the shortstop making a casual catch, step on 2nd and throw to first for a double play.

Question is...could the runner on 2nd have let the ball hit him on purpose making it a deadball...thus staying out of the double play? Obviously he would be out...but the Cubs would still have two on w/ two outs.

Just curious.

Thanks.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

hmmm....
that's a good question.

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@audioidkid

i dont believe it is ever allowed to purposely get hit with a batted ball. i am positive i have seen instances where runners have purposely gotten hit with relay throws on DPs, and the umpires grant the DP, but i cant say that i have ever seen where both outs of a DP have been assumed when a runner intentionally gets hit on a batted ball. my guess is that an umpire must be able to make that judgment though, or runners would be diving into DP grounders all the time.

I think the runner would be out for being hit by a batted ball, and if it was determined to be intentional by the umpire's judgement, they would also call the batter out as a result of interference.

So the runner on first would still be on base...not sure if he'd be awarded second base or not.

without the question of a double play or intentional...if a base runner is hit by a batted ball...he is out and the batter is awarded first base & it is ruled a HIT for the batter.

Back to my original question though...you might be right in that the umpire can make a judgement and rule a double play. Sort of like batters interference with the catcher and an attempted stolen base.

We need some rules geek/wizard to respond.

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It would be smart to try to make it look like an attempt to shield the fielder from the ball and having the bad luck of having the ball strike you. Why not try it? It is VERY likely to be a double play otherwise, so there is no real downside to trying.

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Go Cubs!!!!