Rufner: Three for the record books, a talk with official scorer David Vincent
From Jason S. Rufner at the Prince William Times on August 7, 2016, with mention of SABR member David Vincent:
The ball’s hit hard, bouncing along the Pfitzner Stadium grass as it’s madly pursued by a glove-wearing fielder. He gets to it, reaches for it, but it deflects off his glove and rolls into the outfield grass. The batter-turned-runner stands satisfied on first base.
Hit? Or error? A run came in on the play. Does the batter get an RBI, or not? What’s the call? It has to be made right – and it has to be made right now. The pitcher’s coming with the next pitch.
For the Potomac Nationals, three men – David Vincent, Ben Trittipoe and Jason Eichelberger – have earned the right to make those calls. They are employed by the Carolina League to tell the world what happened, who gets credit for which stats, and, if necessary, defend their decisions as to why.
With the trio’s combined 43 years of experience scoring professional baseball games – 42 of those years owned by Vincent and Trittipoe – the P-Nats can have confidence that the call will be made right, and right on time.
Read the full article here: http://www.northernvatimes.com/gainesville/article/three-for-the-record-books
Originally published: August 8, 2016. Last Updated: August 8, 2016.