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An Outfield Pop-Up Falls In

The batter hits a lazy pop-up that drifts out past the infield. Infielders and outfielders alike converge on the ball… but it falls to the grass/turf, allowing the batter to reach safely. Said batter has just gotten very lucky, and hit the ball to the perfect spot. Or… the fielders have gotten very unlucky.

How unlucky? Well, one unfortunate possibility on this type of play is for the infielders and outfielders to both get to the ball… at the same time. This can be very, very bad for the defense, and it's the type of play which you might expect to see scored as an error— but if no one touches the ball, the scorer cannot make such a ruling. The only time you might see an error on this type of play is if a fielder fully has the ball in their glove, and they either flat-out drop it, or they get run into and then drop it.

Once the ball hits the ground, the batter is going to be safe at first, and any other forced runners are going to be off and… well, running. Depending on how quickly the defense can get the ball back under control, they still have a very small chance at being able to force a runner out at a base (usually second base), but this usually only happens if that runner thought the ball was going to be caught for sure, and doesn’t stray far from the base. The defense can go after non-forced runners as well, including making a throw to the plate.