Foul or Passed Ball?

[BuckeyeMike]

BV tonight, RH batter, 2 strikes:  pitch is tracking outside but in the upper part of the zone.  Batter swings to protect but the catcher partially rises up while reaching out to snag it. I hear a "tick" sound and the ball goes by the catcher to the backstop.  The batter starts to run and I, because i was blocked and could not see exactly what happened, call FOUL.  It's hard to put into words what that "tick" sounded like, but i knew it wasn't the barrel of the bat......I was thinking it was right off the end cap.......THAT sound. 

 

HDC comes out and says "Foul?  That hit off the catcher's glove!"  I explained i was blocked and all i had to go off of was the sound.  This coach is pretty good....knows his shiz.....and says "well if he fouled it, why'd he start running?"   I had NO reply to that. LOL.  In retrospect, the sound was NOT all i had to go off of.  My little brain didn't take the time to wait and see what the batter did.

 

He makes a valid argument.  Anybody have this?   In retrospect, sure....I guess the "tick" I heard could have been the ball hitting off the catcher's glove.  I talked to my partner after the game and he said he couldn't tell and would have been no help if i'd have gone to him.   Words of wisdom are welcome.

[carolinablue]

It could have been the bat hitting the catcher's glove as well, which would be CI. Just because he started running doesn't mean he didn't get a piece of it . He may have been unsure just like you. I think you did OK., you made the call you thought was right. In that case, with the batter running, I would come up with a strong " foul " call to help sell it.

[maven]

Tough call. One thing we teach is to slow down making a foul ball call. Since a foul ball is dead and nothing can happen, there's absolutely no reason to rush it. Take your time to be sure what you've got, since there's no unringing the bell.

 

Assuming the coach was correct, an extra moment might have allowed your brain to process that sound and identify it as ball & leather, not ball and (any part of the) bat.

[mstaylor]

Good advice on slowing down but once you called it foul, discussion is over. 

[Mike Prince]

Yup, timing is key but as others have said, you can't un-do a foul call once you make it.