The flip side of the whole debate is: why assign errors in the first place? As long as the batter puts the ball in play, hasn’t he done literally everything he needs to do to earn the hit? So as long as he reaches first base before he is put out, why shouldn’t he be awarded the hit?
There are innumerable examples of plays in which nearly everyone agrees that the fielder should have given the error, yet the batter is give a hit instead. Miggy’s hit on Saturday is the perfect example: line drive right at Kiner-Falefa, it glances off his glove, Miggy gets the hit—which cost Severino the no-hitter, by the way. I mean, come on, the batter hit the ball right at the guy! Any minor leaguer could have made that play, let alone a major leaguer! You gonna tell me that was a hit!? We see that shit all the time.
So in many, too many, cases, it really comes down only to official scorer fiat. So why not take the discretion out of that single person’s hands and treat all cases as equal by giving the batter the hit in every case? I know it sounds stupid the first time you hear it, but the more you think about it, the more there is some validity to the discussion. Or at least the more I think about it, there is for me.
You and I are old enough to seem to remember official scorers being freer and easier with the assigning of errors, which perhaps is the idea you are channeling by suggesting that such plays be expanded to include non-physical errors born of bad decision-making. On a per game basis, teams average 25% fewer errors today than just 25 years ago; half the errors of 75 years ago; and one-third the errors of 100 years ago. How much of that is due to better fields and equipment, how much to players improving, but also, how much to the shifting vagaries of official scorer fiat through the generations? Is there any way to know, outside of the living memory of old geezers and their anecdotes? I don’t think there really is, is there? So why not just throw out the whole idea and just start giving every batter who puts the ball into play a hit and be done with it?
Now, personally, I’m fine with the way they do it all now: it must be a physical miscue on a play requiring ordinary effort. But if we’re going to talk about changing the system in a dramatic way, might as well put all options on the table, right?