Ball hits bat twice

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Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
I give up, you simply are going to ignore anything that doesn't agree with you. Settled is not any keyword. You do realize that the position of the ball at the time of an infraction determines the balls status don't you? A pop fly over fair ground has no fair foul status untill it hits the ground, but, if that same ball is still in the air and some infraction occurs that makes it a dead ball such as interference, the balls status becomes fair because it was over fair territory. The batter in the video hit a fair ball and initiated contact with it over fair ground. The batter is out, period end of story. But you can just keep going on about rules under batter that do not apply.
 
Jan 30, 2019
40
8
I'm not ignoring anything. The definition of a Foul says its foul if it touches the player in the batter's box. A part of the box is in Fair territory. If the ball straight off the bat hits the batter in the box or bounce just in front of her feet, then hits her is she out, even if in the front half of the box? The ball is over fair territory, so it must be fair and out. However, by rule definition it is a foul ball. I have no problem at all being wrong. But I have cited a few rules that state batted ball hits batter while in box it is a foul ball? To include the definition of a foul ball.

I except every batted ball that hits the batter in the front half of the batter box to be an out then, because it was over fair territory even if they don't have time to react. That is exactly what you are saying. You did mention, in an earlier post, that it protects the batter in this case, however, you can't have it both ways. Either they are protected while in the box or only when the ball is in foul territory.

All I'm saying is by the definition of a foul ball, a batted ball that contacts the batter while they are still in the box is foul. I have quoted the definition several times.

As for your pop fly status and yes, I'm stretching a little, but this is why umpires should not make overly broad statements. A pop fly is only fair when it contacts the ground after it passes 1st or 3rd base in the air and with the lines. If it did not pass 1st or 3rd base, then the status of the ball is where it touches a player or settles (stops). This is also why an infield fly can be drop in the circle have ridiculous spin and still be just a foul ball, if it wasn't touched by a player. Someone not very knowledgeable of the rules could think it is fair and then use your statement to support it. I have seen on many baseball rule tic-toks or shorts, where people comment that exact thing, so not that farfetched that people think it's only where the ball contacts the ground. I know you don't think that.

In your case the ball is fair by rule because it settled (stopped) in fair territory. In my case the batter is still in the box and contacts the ball, other than being over fair territory there is nothing that makes it fair. By rule it is foul ball, but I guess you're too good that you can ignore the definition of a foul ball, for the sake of you being correct. These are two different situations.

I can think of other rules that supersede one another; obstruction and interference is one. Most know that obstruction does not save you from being called out if you committed any form of interference. The interference rule supersedes the obstruction rule. In the play with a player in the box hit by batted ball, the definition of a foul ball supersedes the rule of interference. Why, probably because, the ball was not a legal fair ball, which is a stipulation to being a batter-runner. Just like if they hit ball the ball deep down the 1st base line 175ft. They are a batter-runner, but if the ball lands foul they revert to being a batter again, because a legal fair ball was not hit. When the batter is in the box and gets hit with a batted ball then it is foul by rule. While it may be a definition, it is still considered rules, and every training I have been to have always said that the definitions are the most important section of the book because how can you properly rule on something if you don't know what it means.

Case in point, a Foul ball is a batted ball that touches (contacts) the batter... a second time while the batter is in within the batter's box.

I don't know how much clearer it can be, by definition of a Foul Ball from the NFHS rule book.

Are there times this is superseded, of course "if a batted ball settles or is touched on or over fair territory between home and 1st or home and 3rd base." This is a definition of a Fair ball. Yes, it does say touch, but the definition of a foul ball says in while in the box the batter is touched then it is foul. So which definition supersedes the other. I think the foul ball does because it specifically calls out the batter's box. The definition of a foul ball also has the same statement that I quoted for except it changes the word from fair territory to foul territory. So why specifically say in the rule book that a ball that touches the batter that is within the box is foul, if they really don't mean it nor did that change it the rule to remove the statement. The clarification that you posted would no longer be a clarification, but a major rule change, as it would change the definition of a foul ball.
 
Nov 3, 2021
9
3
Ball clearly pops up in fair territory, hitting either the bat a second time or the batter who has strided out of the batters box at time of contact with ball is OUT.
 
Apr 19, 2023
3
3
I've got another question for you experts. This happened in our playoff game last night. The batter bunts the ball and as she's running to first out of the box, the ball clearly hits the batter or the bat. The catcher said the ball hit the bat. It looks to me that the ball hit the bat while the bat was still in the batter's hands out of the box. The home plate umpire missed it completely - she called a fair ball. The third base umpire wound up calling it a foul ball. What is the correct call?


Ball is dead in either case and if the batter's foot is entirely out of the box, the batter is out. I'm not sure the homeplate umpire saw how it occured.
 
Feb 15, 2017
920
63
All I noticed was all the armchair umpires chiming in, including the obligatory "we've got video. "

Sports will be better when parents are silent.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
 

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