Expert: Geoff - 9/8/2007

Question
When I was a kid I had a book of baseball trivia, I read if you hit a line drive and it hit 1st or 3rd base and went into the stands that it was a homerun, I have debated w/someone over this but cannot find out any info on this, can you confirm or deny this for me?

Answer
Hi Lou,

Thanks for writing.

Certainly what you are describing is not an accurate ground rule in Major League Baseball today.  If a batted ball hits 1st or 3rd base and then lands in the stands, it would be called a ground-rule double.  Any batted ball that hits the ground in fair territory and then ends up in the stands is a ground rule double.  A fair territory batted ball must enter the stands before hitting the ground to be a home run.

In the good old days though, "funny" ground rules sometimes created unusual situations.  In the 1903 World Series the idea of a "ground-rule triple" came into play.  The overflow crowds made a new rule needed and it was determined if a ball rolled into the overflow crowd area, the batter would get a ground-rule triple.

Has there ever been a ground rule home run like the situation you described?  Not that I've ever heard of.  If it ever did exist it would have been back in the 1800's but I suspect it has never happened.

I looked over at Amazon.com for the book you might have been reading.  This link:

http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Brain-Teasers-League-Puzzlers/dp/0806962844

brings you to an interesting trivia book with lots of baseball long ago oddities - including the ground rule triple story.

Best Wishes,

Geoff