Official Scoring

There are several things that bother me about scoring rules, and here are two that have been on my mind lately.

First, the one that says a runner took 2nd (or 3rd) on "defensive indifference." The guy stole a base - he should get a stolen base. It's not his fault the defense was indifferent. And while we're at it, I hate it when the defense is indifferent. If the score is out of hand, that's fine. I still disagree with the strategy, but I understand the thinking. But if the score is 3-1 in the 9th and the leadoff batter gets on, why just give him 2nd base? Wouldn't you rather keep the double play as a possibility. But it happens all the time. Now, if the guy wants to steal 2nd in a 12-1 game, it should still be a SB, but one that comes with some sort of retaliation down the road.

Anyway, the strategy is not my point here. It's the scoring decision to not give a stolen base. I think the runner should be rewarded for taking the base. Screw the indifference. If you don't want SBs added to the stats of your pitchers and catchers, stop being indifferent.

The other scoring decision that bothers me is the one that says, "you can't assume a double play." Why can't you? Runner on first, grounder to 2nd, and the ss drops the ball during transition. If the scorer can determine it would have been an easy DP, give the ss an error. The pitcher earned the DP, and the shortstop screwed it up. The other day I saw a ss field a grounder, step on the bag and then throw the ball in the dirt past the firstbaseman. The runner would have been out by several strides. The ball didn't leave the field of play, so the batter couldn't advance past 1st, but he SHOULD have been out. Bad throw. Error. Except, no, you can't assume a double play. Stupid rule.

And I've never looked it up, but... IS it a rule? Or just one of those unwritten rules?