I just read your answer in the Straight Dope archive concerning the five ways to get to first base without hitting the ball. I realize you’re up to six now, but I think the two ways you mentioned are extensions of the interference rule. The true fifth way to reach first without hitting the ball is to be a pinch runner.
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Any knowledgeable baseball fan can come up with four ways right off the bat (so to speak): base on balls, hit by pitch, dropped third strike, and catcher’s interference. The question is the fifth way. (No, it’s not balk.) Having studied the official baseball rules, I came up with two answers in my 1976 column on this subject, involving rules 7.05 (h) and (i). I quote from the current edition, available at www.majorleaguebaseball.com:
“7.05 Each runner including the batter runner may, without liability to be put out, advance:…
What throws everybody (including me) is (h), because it conflates two distinct situations. The first is a wild pitch that goes into the stands. If this occurs on ball four, the batter is entitled to first base only. But the rule also mentions a pickoff throw that goes into the stands. Since there’s no pitch, the batter has no opportunity to become a runner. By juxtaposing wild pickoff throw with wild pitch, the rule gives the impression that the batter may be entitled to something on the former play–and he’s not.
