[BuddyBear]

What's the maximum number of pitches a batter can see without fouling a pitch or recording an out.

[Willie Bee]

11

[BuddyBear]

yep....way too easy....was hoping to stump people with that one.

[Willie Bee]

It's fresh on my mind, BB, because I almost saw it done in a Little League game this season. One kid saw 10 pitches with no extra foul-strikes. He was plunked on pitch #10 and would have seen an 11th pitch if he was faster in the ducking department

[rolemand]

all right I'll stand up and be the idiot

How does a batter get to see 11 pitches without fouling one of them in one plate appearance?

[Willie Bee]

A batter can work a count full (3-2) and then a runner is picked off 1B or something funky like that as the third out of an inning. That same batter then leads off the next inning, can work the count full again (3-2), then on the 11th pitch he's seen without making an out or fouling any off, he can draw a walk via ball 4 or strikeout on the third strike.

[rolemand]

I guess that's why the term plate appearance wasn't used in the original question.

thanks Willie!

[rolemand]

Just a thought given the scenario above couldn't an argument be made the correct answer is 16.

Same scenario as above but it ends Game 1 of a Double header and then happens again in his 1st plate appearance of Game 2.

Just a thought.

[Willie Bee]

Hmm, interesting thought but I can't see how it could happen. Game 1 of a twinbill ends with the count 3-2 on the batter and a runner getting picked off. Once that game's over, it's over. The batter is credited with neither a plate appearance or an at bat, at least that's the way I interpret the scoring rules. That same batter may lead off the next game, but it's not because he was at the plate to end the previous game. Believe there is a distinction for that.

[Illusion]

all right I'll stand up and be the idiot

How does a batter get to see 11 pitches without fouling one of them in one plate appearance?

Don't feel bad, I didn't know either.

[onlooker]

A batter can work a count full (3-2) and then a runner is picked off 1B or something funky like that as the third out of an inning. That same batter then leads off the next inning, can work the count full again (3-2), then on the 11th pitch he's seen without making an out or fouling any off, he can draw a walk via ball 4 or strikeout on the third strike.

Thats good to know. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how a batter can see 11 pitches and not foul or record a out.

I never thought about that same hitter leading off the next inning.