charged with an AB. As my contracts professor used to say, you're putting the rabbit in the hat. It certainly does not appear you're debating this point with someone who has watched or listened to _base_ball much at all, let alone for more than a year.

The definition of At Bat [is]  from their [MLB.com's] Abbreviations list.  Which is wrong two different ways (there's no AB charged when you reach 1B on catcher's interference, either).  Don't believe everything you read. I don't believe everything I read. I question things I don't understand. I don't pretend to know every arcane rule of _base_ball like some people do.  If you can't take MLBs own official definition of At Bat at face value, then something is wrong with the definition, not with my interpretation of the written word. Eric. M. Van continues: SF are not counted as AB.  I can't believe someone could watch or listen to _base_ball for more than a year and not know that.  I understood it when I was nine. Ah, I can see you now at nine years old! There you are at the ballpark watching the other kids play, them with their gloves and little unis and you with your slide rule and pocket protector, your beloved Statistics textbook tucked under your arm... Houndcat

The definition of At Bat [is]  from their [MLB.com's] Abbreviations list.  Which is wrong two different ways (there's no AB charged when you reach 1B on catcher's interference, either).  Don't believe everything you read. I don't believe everything I read. I question things I don't understand. You must be exhausted. By the way, a little hint

I don't believe everything I read. I question things I don't understand. You must be exhausted. Oh, that's fantastic.

 If you can't take MLBs own official definition of At Bat at face value, then something is wrong with the definition, not with my interpretation of the written word. You replied: That's not an official definition. It's a little pop-up window full of text that some guy who was hired to do their web site wrote.  It's quite unofficial. And, yes, it's quite wrong. Where do you get the idea that the definition of At bat listed on the stats page of The Official Site of Major League _base_ball is somehow either a) unofficial or b) should be assumed to be some frivolous production of some guy who was hired to do their web site? You are out of your mind to make that assumption. So I guess I should (because you say so) assume that the opinions of random contributors to rec.sports._base_ball are more official than the rules posted on the Official Site of MLB? When you got that quote about how to score sac flies, where did you get it from? You got it from the same website: MLB.com! You wrote, quoting MLB.com: Here's the actual scoring rule from the same site. 10.02.  The official score report prescribed by the league president shall make provisions for entering the information listed below, in a form convenient for the compilation of permanent statistical records: (a) The following records for each batter and runner: (1) Number of times he batted, except that no time at bat shall be charged against a p_layer_ when (i) He hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly (ii) He is awarded first _base_ on four called balls (iii) He is hit by a pitched ball (iv) He is awarded first _base_ because of interference or obstruction. So who is it that can't admit when they are wrong? I've admitted it twice. You never admit it at all, because you have appointed yourself as the final arbiter who has the last word on _base_ball. When the MLB website supports you, it's official. When it supports me, it's just a pile of garbage. Houndcat

Yaz is oh for two with a sacrifice fly Yeah I heard it many times. Except I thought: 2ABs, 2 outs, One of the outs WAS the sac fly . The announcer is trying to say : He hit the ball hard but it was caught. That statement doesn't (on the face of it) imply that a run scored, either, unless you know the rule. Which I guaranTEE 90% of the fans at any game would not. I always thought of a sacrifice fly as a fly ball that is caught but advances a runner into scoring position. (High fly ball to outfield where runner tags and advances.) I didn't realise that it was only called a sac fly when there are a) LESS than 2 outs  b) the runner SCORES after the catch. AND only if the ball is caught in the outfield. That's hardly intuitive. Of course as EVERYBODY knows, if the fly ball is caught  on the INFIELD the infield fly rule is invoked... I suppose you think that EVERYBODY KNOWS that the abbreviation for fly outs is AO , too. Do you ever go to ball games? Who do you go with? A group of guys from Elias Sports Bureau? Next time you are at a game, look around you and see how many people are keeping score. I go to probably 20-30 games a year and keep a scorecard, but if I ask people around me the simplest questions, they have no idea what I'm talking about. If I asked 95% of the fans at the game what GIDP or OPS meant or was that a sac fly for Sosa or a regular fly out in the last inning? they'd have no fucking IDEA what I was talking about.  I go to games with a group of guys who play on softball leagues all summer, and if I give them my scorecard while I'm grabbing some beers, shit, when I come back, I'm lucky to be able to decipher their scribblings! They never keep scorecards and aren't familiar at all with the shorthand. Do you ever get the scorecards at the games... you know, the cardboard scorecards, one page folded in thirds... look at the info (or lack of it) regarding how to score the game.  That's the extent of what MOST people who keep score at the game know about scoring! That's how I learned to keep track of games. I have one here from the White Sox last year. There is an abbreviation listed for SF Sacrifice Fly but NO definition. F is the abbreviation for both Foul and Fly Out . PO stands here for...not Pitch Out but Pick Off ! I don't know where you get the idea that your advanced knowledge of _base_ball rules and statistics is average ! Houndcat