What is a fielder’s choice in baseball?
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A fielder’s choice is when there are 1 or more base runners when the batter puts the ball in play and the player who fields the ball has more than 1 choice available to record an out.
Example A: There is a runner on 1st and 3rd base with no outs. The batter hits the ball to the shortstop. The shortstop (fielder) had multiple choices on that play.
– He could have immediately flipped the ball to 2nd to initiate a double play attempt from 2nd to 1st, but that would have likely allowed the runner ar 3rd to score. The result of this play would be 2 outs, 1 run scored, no runners on base.
– He could hold the ball fot a second to prevent the runner at 3rd from scoring, and then throw to 1st base to throw out the batter. The result would be 1 out, runner on 2nd and 3rd base.
– He holds the ball for a second to prevent the runner at 3rd from running home. He then flips the ball over to the 2nd baseman to record the out on the player running from 1st to 2nd base. But because of the delay from holding the runner at 3rd, there is no option for a double play, so the only out recorded is at 2nd base. The result here would be 1 out, runners at 1st and 3rd base.
Example B: A runner on 1st base with 1 out and the batter hits the ball to shortstop. The shortstop throws to 2nd base, the second baseman steps on 2nd base to record an out, then throws to 1st base, but he runner beats the throw and is safe. This is also a fielder’s choice because the fielder who initiated the play (shortstop) had his choice of options. Throw to 2nd to start a double play, or throw directly to first base to get the batter out.
There are several other scenarios that will result in a play being scored as a FC, but you should have the gist if it.
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