Expert: John McInnis - 4/12/2006

Question
I read one of your responses that says if a foul ball is hit beyond third or first base without hitting the ground and is touched by a player but then dropped the ball is a fair ball.  My question is "would the same rule apply if the ball comes down before third of first base." Also I've looked up the major league rules and there is nothing I can find. How do you know that the ball would be considered fair.

Answer
Hi Tim,

from my understanding and experience, if the ball touches a player "in-flight", the umpire has to judge if the ball as when it was touched and NOT where it lands.  SO, if it was a fair ball to begin with AND the player mishandles the fly ball (hits tip of glove and bounces foul), the umpire should rule the ball 'fair' and 'live'.

The same is held true to in-field fly balls.

The best rule-of-thumb is this:  the umpire has to judge if the ball would have touched the ground on the foul side or fair side. If it was clearly (for an umpire) a foul ball, no player could make it become fair.  If it was a fair ball, no player can make it a foul ball.

You could try looking at this website:

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/baseball_basics/on_the_field.jsp

Best of luck,

JohnMc