A baseball-playing friend stymied me with this question. Seven batters step up to the plate in one inning, all from the same team. The inning ends and no one has scored. How? We came up with bases loaded, two pop-outs, a grand slam, and one more pop-out, when the other team claims the grand slam hitter didn’t tag third and the four runs are nullified. But we regard this answer as a copout, and the guy won’t tell us the solution. Help! –Rene C., Chicago
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Some essential part of the riddle must have slipped by you, champ, because this one wouldn’t stump a bump. But first let’s dispense with your excuse for a solution. Failing to tag a base is what we call an “appeal” play. The runs are nullified only if the opposing team appeals to the umpire before the next pitch. Since you throw in an intervening out, the runs stand. I learn this from rule 7.10 of my Official Baseball Rules, the holy Koran of the sport.
