A pitch dropped during a delivery with the bases empty is:

• A. An illegal pitch.
• B. A ball if it crosses the foul line.
• C. A dead ball and declared a no pitch if it stops prior to crossing the foul line.
• D. B & C.

Answer: (D)

When a pitch slips from the pitcher’s hand during the delivery, the play isn’t automatically a strike. What happens next depends on the ball’s travel. If the ball continues and crosses the foul line, it’s ruled a ball (the pitch didn’t go through the strike zone, so the batter gets a ball added to the count). If, instead, the ball stops before crossing the foul line, the ball is dead and a no pitch is declared (the pitch doesn’t count toward the count). With no runners on base, these are the two possible outcomes, which is why the combined result covers both situations.