Defensive indifference is a play you usually see in the 9th inning when the pitching team is ahead by several runs and the batting team gets a runner on base. The base runner moves up from 1st to 2nd or from 2nd to 3rd without a throw from the catcher because the pitching team is focused on getting the batter out and doesn’t care about the base runner. The advance is designated “defensive indifference” by the official scorer, and the base runner is not credited with a steal. But have you ever heard of a player scoring on defensive indifference? That is, a player races from 3rd to home, and the team in the field doesn’t care enough to even throw to the plate. The Retrosheet coding for such a play is DI.3-H.
I hadn’t heard of that either until recently, and I was shocked to find that a player has scored on defensive indifference twice in the approximately 16 million plays between 1911-1924.
June
26, 1913, Athletics vs Washinton Senators
2nd game of a doubleheader. Top of 9th, A’s leading 10-2.
Newspaper clippings about the game indicate that A’s future Hall of Fame pitcher Charles “Chief” Bender “toyed with Washington” in the 9th. This may be the most unusual defensive indifference calls in baseball history.
The Franklin Repository of Chambersburg, PA, wrote, “Bender got the goat of the Senators fans when, in the ninth, Ainsmith singled and started to steal second while the Indian had the ball. Bender turned and watched him cross 2nd and 3rd and score with Washington's third run. He then resumed the game and made easy outs of the two next men.”
Final score: Athletics 10, Senators 3.
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1913/B06262WS11913.htm
Note that the defensive indifference rule was not in place in the major leagues until 1920, but the Ainsmith advances are scored as defense indifference by Retrosheet.
June
21, 1989, Reds at Atlanta, top of the 8th. Braves down 2-0.
Jim Acker, a righthanded reliever, was pitching for the Braves. Bo Diaz, the Reds' catcher, grounded out. Lenny Harris singled to right. Van Snider hit for Browning, the Reds’ starter, and singled to left; Harris to third. Chris Sabo, the Reds' 3rd baseman and leadoff hitter, was called out on strikes. Two outs.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution described what happened next: “[Braves] first baseman Gerald Perry, activated from the disabled list just prior to the game, held the ball after a disputed pickoff play. Siezing on the chance…Lenny Harris raced home untouched for a 3-0 lead.” The official scorer scored the play defensive indifference rather than a steal.
The Braves then scored in the bottom of the 8th on a Lonnie Smith 2-run homer and won it in the bottom of the 9th on a 2-run single by Jeff Treadway. Final score: Braves 4, Reds 3.
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1989/B06211ATL1989.htm