Out of Play?

[mrumpiresir]

My thought was his foot extending beyond the wall makes him out of play and there would be no catch.   There are a couple of similar plays and they have been called catches.

Your thoughts?

[Gfoley4]

Just needs 1 foot in play and he has that with the foot on the ledge. Looks like the first base umpire was thinking along with you, but obviously eventually overturned

[ElkOil]

This is a "catch and carry," where the fielder catches the ball in live ball territory (he has one foot in), then carries the ball into dead ball territory. In this case, the batter is out and any runners are awarded one base.

[Stk004]

2 hours ago, Gfoley4 said:

Just needs 1 foot in play and he has that with the foot on the ledge. Looks like the first base umpire was thinking along with you, but obviously eventually overturned

He only needs one foot on or over the field of play as long as the other foot isn't touching the ground out of play. So if he was, say, sitting on the ledge with one foot in the warning track dirt and the other foot on the concrete in the stands, it'd be no catch. I'd imagine standing with one foot on a seat/railing would also qualify the fielder to be out of play. 

[mrumpiresir]

So the fact that part of his left foot was extended beyond the wall when he made the catch means nothing? Or is he not out of play until he actually steps into the seats? 

[ElkOil]

12 minutes ago, mrumpiresir said:

So the fact that part of his left foot was extended beyond the wall when he made the catch means nothing? Or is he not out of play until he actually steps into the seats? 

You have to judge where his feet are in relation to the DBT line at the time of the catch.

[mrumpiresir]

1 minute ago, ElkOil said:

You have to judge where his feet are in relation to the DBT line at the time of the catch.

Where is the line when he is on top the wall?

[Stk004]

5.09(a)(1) Comment: A fielder, in order to make a catch on a foul ball nearing a dugout or other out-of-play area (such as the stands), must have one or both feet on or over the playing surface (including the lip of the dugout) and neither foot on the ground inside the dugout or in any other out-of-play area.

There's more to this comment but here is the relevant portion.

8 minutes ago, mrumpiresir said:

Where is the line when he is on top the wall?

I believe the top of the wall there was determined to be in play. 

[noumpere]

iirc, FED, NCAA and OBR all have slightly different interps / rules on what constitutes being out of play and whether any dead-ball line is in play or out of play.