Baseball Instruction/Pitched Ball Bounce Hits Batter

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Expert: - 3/6/2008


Question
In JohnMc Answer he indicate that a bounce ball hits the catcher then the batter hits the ball and it is considered in play.  I question this since the catcher is the only player out of bounds, would not this make the ball dead and unable to continue to be put into play.

Answer
Tom,

The ball is not dead just because it has hit the catcher.  As long as the batter legally hits the ball, it would be in play.  The circumstance where a batter stays in the batter's box and legally strikes a ball that has hit the catcher is hard for me to imagine, but it would be a legal play.

Hope this helps!

Brian

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Brian Flaspohler

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Questions about baseball rules, general information about the game, statistical analysis, questions about players, questions about Baseball records. I am a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a lifelong baseball fanatic. Don't ask me questions about training - this is not my area of expertise.

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