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Hello all,

I had a coach/parent discussion about a particular sac bunt that was safe.

I'm trying to find the rule on this. His eventual contention is that there is no such thing as a sac bunt safe. That if the batter is safe, it is ruled a hit (with the exception of an Error or FC).

Can someone direct me to the appropriate ruling on this?

Thanks for the help.

If there is a runner on first, and the batter bunts the ball, and a fielder tries to make the play at second, but the runner beats the throw, that is a sacrifice bunt - safe. The batter did his job by advancing the runner even though the batter was not thrown out. In any ground ball situation other than the bunt, this would have just been a Fielder's Choice which would have a negative impact on the batter. But with the bunt, the batter actually did his job, but it is not a hit as the fielder could have thrown the runner out at first and chose not to.

And here is a relevant rule citation.

Official Rules of Baseball (aka MLB rules)
10.08 (b)

Score a sacrifice bunt when, before two are out, the fielders handle a bunted ball without error in an unsuccessful attempt to put out a preceding runner advancing one base, unless, an attempt to turn a bunt into a putout of a preceding runner fails, and in the judgment of the official scorer ordinary effort would not have put out the batter at first base, in which case the batter shall be credited with a one-base hit and not a sacrifice;

Thanks guys.that's pretty clear.

So...if the batter bunts and still beats the throw to first (let's say the fielder hesitated a second to hold the runner), then th batter is credited a hit. Correct?

Yes, if a fielder throws to first in an attempt to get the batter, and the batter beats the throw, it is a hit.

OK...I'm getting myself a bit confused and I want to clarify. Let me know if I got this wrong:

Score a:

Sacrifice Bunt - when batter advances a preceding runner safely to another base (and less than two outs) and defensive player puts batter out at first.

Sacrifice Bunt Safe - when a batter advances a preceding runner safely to another base, and the defensive player tried to make the play on the preceding runner but failed to make the out. Bunter is safe at first.

Fielders Choice - when the batter hits a sac bunt but the preceding runner is out when the defensive player goes for lead runner instead of batter. Batter is safe at first.

Bunt Hit - when the batter makes it safely to first on an attempted sacrifice bunt, and defensive player ignores preceding runners and tried to make out at first.

Bunt Hit - when the batter hits a sac bunt, and defensive player fails to make the play on the preceding runner, but in the judgement of the scored, the batter would have been safe at 1st had the defensive player attempted to put out the batter.

I hope this makes sense!

Rix wrote:OK...I'm getting myself a bit confused and I want to clarify. Let me know if I got this wrong:

Score a:

Sacrifice Bunt - when batter advances a preceding runner safely to another base (and less than two outs) and defensive player puts batter out at first.

Sacrifice Bunt Safe - when a batter advances a preceding runner safely to another base, and the defensive player tried to make the play on the preceding runner but failed to make the out. Bunter is safe at first.

Fielders Choice - when the batter hits a sac bunt but the preceding runner is out when the defensive player goes for lead runner instead of batter. Batter is safe at first.

Bunt Hit - when the batter makes it safely to first on an attempted sacrifice bunt, and defensive player ignores preceding runners and tried to make out at first.

Bunt Hit - when the batter hits a sac bunt, and defensive player fails to make the play on the preceding runner, but in the judgement of the scored, the batter would have been safe at 1st had the defensive player attempted to put out the batter.

I hope this makes sense!

You dont sound confused at all...I agree with everything you said...