High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control. When, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a runner on base advances, the catcher is thereby charged with a passed ball. A runner who advances due to a passed ball is not credited with a stolen base unless he breaks for the base before the pitcher begins his delivery.