So, I was messing around on Twitter today – as professional dorks like me do, apparently – and I tossed out a random question that seems to have really intrigued folks. I figured, why let Twitter users have all the fun?
If you were the defender at every position (so, eight of you) in an MLB game, with a contact pitcher on the mound, how many runs does the other team score before you get out of the first inning?
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 17, 2019
So, in other words, the team lines up like this for the top of the first:
Pitcher: Control/contact type who isn’t going to bail you out with strikeouts
Catcher: You
First Base: Another Version of You
Second Base: Yup, Another Another Version of You
… and so on.
How long would it take you to get out of that inning? How many runs would that MLB team – imagine you’re facing the Dodgers or something – score on you before you recorded three outs?
For me, trying to be as honest as possible: I do think I could get *some* outs. I could catch infield pop ups pretty consistently, if and when they happened. I could catch a lazy fly ball if it was hit right at me. And I could get an out at first base on a routine, bouncing ground ball hit pretty much right to me at second base or first base (or a tapper back to the mound). Anything else at all, and I’m not gonna pretend I could get an out.
So, I reckon, with the opposing lineup up there hacking, maybe about 1 in 12 of the balls in play would be a type that I could get an out. In the first inning, then, that’s what? 30 to 35 runs. Seems light. But I think I could do it. Let’s try it.
Anyway, how about you? How many would they score on you?