 So there was a play that took place last night in the playoff game between the Reds and the Giants that was something that I thought anybody who was keeping score at home, and particularly if you're an official scorer at some kind of level, you would be interested in this play. So we'll take a look at that. So in the bottom of the first inning, Brandon Phillips for the the Reds, he led off with a single, and so he was staying on first base. And then Zach Kozart came up next for the Reds, and so Kozart had a 1-2 count on him, and on the very next pitch, Phillips went. He went on the pitch, tried to seal second base, but it just so happened that that pitch from the the Giants pitcher, Ryan Bogosong, he actually bounced the pitch in the dirt, and so Phillips was able to make it to second base pretty easily. And so that's the first lesson here, is that because Phillips was attempting to steal on the pitch, he still gets credit for the stolen base. If he was not going on the pitch, and then so if he was still standing on first base, whenever the pitch had bounced in the dirt, and then he started to run towards second, is once he had seen the ball bounce, and he makes it into second base safely, then that would be a wild pitch. But because he was going before the ball bounced, he's credited with that stolen base. So that's something that you always want to pay attention to if you keep a score of the game, is that on every pitch is the runner going, or is he not? Because if that ball bounces in the dirt, and the runner slides into second base, you're going to have to know was he going or not, because that determines his wild pitch, or is this a stolen base. And you probably won't, especially at the lower levels, you're probably not going to have the benefit of instant replay to see if he was in fact going on that play. But that's not really what I wanted to look at. The thing on this play that's a little more interesting is that what happened after Phillips made it to second base, and that was that once he made it to second base, he saw that the ball had gotten away from Buster Posey, from the Giants catcher. And so he kept running, he started to run, Phillips started to run toward third base. And so Posey was able to get over to the ball to pick it up, and he made a great throw down to third base. So the Giants third baseman, Pablo Sandoval, he was over covering, Posey makes a good throw, and Phillips then was tagged out. At third base. So the question here is, what is this out at third base? What is that considered? Is he caught stealing? Because remember here, if Posey couldn't get the ball quick enough, or he didn't make as accurate a throw, Phillips would have moved from second to third on the wild pitch, not on a second stolen base. So should we really say he was caught stealing here if, had he been safe, he would not have gotten credit for a stolen base? And so basically the answer is no, and the answer for that is pretty much, or the reason for that, pretty much why I just described is because he's not going to get credit for a stolen base. So why would we punish Phillips in a way, punish his stats, and say he was caught stealing? So then, well if it's not caught stealing, what is it? Basically it's nothing really, it's just a put out. And so Phillips would simply be put out with the catcher to the third baseman, so just a 2-5 out, and then of course again, Phillips he's considered from having gone from first to second on the stolen base, because he was running before that pitch bounced, and then the out at third base then would be a 2-5. And so then this is a great little, almost a game you can play about situations and odd situations and things going on, like this. So what was our situation here? We have a runner on first base, and the catcher somehow mishandles the ball. So then you can bring in all these different scenarios based around this play. So if the runner, what if he's second at second base, or safe at second base? So just like on this play, was he going on the pitch? Yes he was going on the pitch, so he would be credited with that stolen base, as Phillips was. What if he didn't run until the ball reached the plate? Well if he didn't run until then, then it would be either a wild pitch or a pass ball, depending on did the catcher miss it, or did the ball bounce, or where was the pitch. So it could be one of those. What happens if the catcher throws him out at second base? Well if he was going on the pitch and the catcher baubles it and picks it up and he's still able to throw him out, it's still a caught stealing. But then if he was not going on the pitch, if he sees the ball, bounce in the dirt, tries to run towards second, so had he gotten there, and it would have been called a wild pitch, it's not a caught stealing again, it would be a put out. So it's not a caught stealing or a stolen base. And so you can do that with all kinds of different situations. You can see one play happen and then think, well what would have happened if this had changed, if he was safe instead of out, or something to that effect. So that was the play, granted Phillips, one stolen base and put out. Not caught stealing at third.