Fielder’s Choice (FC)

A Fielder’s Choice occurs when a fielder has the chance to throw out a base runner or the batter but chooses to try to get another base runner out. The end result is that the batter reaches first base safely due to the fielder choosing to try to get an out on a base runner.

In the illustration to the right, Odom led off the inning with a double. The next batter, Holmes, hit a ground ball to the short stop who, instead of throwing the ball to first base to get the batter out, threw the ball to the third baseman, who tagged the runner out.

The Fielder’s Choice is recorded in the batter’s cell as an FC 6-5 where “FC” represents Fielder’s Choice, “6″ represents the shortstop who caught the ground ball and “5″ represents the third baseman who caught the throw and tagged out the runner. Also, a line is drawn from home plate to first base (on the diamond) to show the batter reached first base safely

In the runner’s cell (Odom) the number “1″ with a circle around it is used to note the first out of the inning.