Baseball 1

Batter slams a line drive over the head of the left fielder. By the time the fielder catches up with the ball and fires it home three runners have tagged and crossed the plate. As the last runner (the batter) attempts to score the catcher tags the plate (not the runner) just before the runner tags the plate. The game is over. What is the final score?

-- Reader Comments --

• 4-1, good guys. A home run counts as a home run.
  [Editor's note: No. Unless the ball clears the fence or is otherwise declared a groundrule homerun or triple by an umpire the hit only counts as a double.]

• The game ends in the bottom of the 9th or any later inning with the home team winning when the winning run scores before three are out. The only exception is when the batter hits a home run, he is credited with a home run and all runners on base score. This is a recent rule (1920). Thirty seven major league players lost home runs in the years before this rule change. Prior to this rule change, the game ended when the winning run scored and the batter was credited with as many bases as the winning run requires to score. i.e. with runners on second and third and the home team behind by 1, the batter gets a double; with runners on first and second, the batter gets a triple.

Baseball 2

Batter hits a slow roller toward first. The first baseman grabs it in fair territory and waits on the first base path for the batter to come to him. The batter sees this and stops. Two runners cross the plate. The first baseman finally tosses the ball to the pitcher who tags first base just after the third runner crosses the plate. The game is over. What is the final score?