Fair/Foul

[Guest Carl]

I need to confirm that I have the fair/foul basics correct.  I am a LL coach and was running a fall ball practice and all of a sudden got unsure of myself on some of the subtleties of the rule.  Nothing like teaching something to expose your lack of knowledge!  Most of these I "know" are correct but I am including everything I can think of to make sure I am not relying on rules myths.

So,  first a few general items that I think are correct:

1.  The foul line and foul pole are in fair territory.

2.  If any part of the ball is over or on any part of the foul line, it is in fair territory.  So if a ball lands with most of it on the grass in foul ground and a small part of it on the white of the foul line, that is a fair ball.

3.  For the purposes of when a ball is going over first or third base, the relevant part of the base is the corner that is closest to the foul line and closest to home plate.

4.  A ball is judged fair or foul based on the position of the ball.  Where a fielder is when he touches it is irrelevant.

Now, some situations to make sure I have it correct:

1. Ball hits ground in fair territory between home and first/third:

    a.  then goes past the base while still in fair territory, then hits foul ground -- fair ball.

    b.  then goes over the base, then hits foul ground -- fair ball, same as 1a. because of #3 above.

    c.  then goes into foul territory before reaching the base and either is touched by a fielder (or coach, umpire, on-deck batter, equipment, etc) OR settles in foul territory OR goes past the base in foul territory -- foul ball.

2.  Ball is hit in the air and goes past first or third base while still over fair territory:

     a. then first touches the ground (or a fielder, umpire, etc.) in foul territory -- foul ball?

     b. then first touches the ground (or a fielder or umpire) in fair territory -- fair ball?  (Duh.)

3.  Home plate is in fair territory.

4.  If a batter is hit by his batted ball while still in the batters box:  it is a foul ball even if it actually hits a part of his body that is in fair territory.

5.  If a batter touches his batted ball (like say a bunted ball down the first base line) what is the call if the ball is in fair territory?  If it is in foul territory?

6.  When a foul ball is not caught it is a strike (unless there are already two strikes), a dead ball and all runners return.  But when a fielder catches a foul fly ball, it is an out and the ball is live so runners may advance (subject to tagging up as on a normal fair fly ball). 

 

 

[maven]

15 minutes ago, Guest Carl said:

3.  For the purposes of when a ball is going over first or third base, the relevant part of the base is the corner that is closest to the foul line and closest to home plate.

I get what you're aiming at, but it's easier than this. If the bounding ball passes over the base (any part), then it's fair.

15 minutes ago, Guest Carl said:

2.  Ball is hit in the air and goes past first or third base while still over fair territory:

     a. then first touches the ground (or a fielder, umpire, etc.) in foul territory -- foul ball?

     b. then first touches the ground (or a fielder or umpire) in fair territory -- fair ball?  (Duh.)

Both are correct, although misleading. For a ball in the air (as opposed to a bounding ball), we don't care whether it goes over the base. It matters only where it lands or is touched.

15 minutes ago, Guest Carl said:

5.  If a batter touches his batted ball (like say a bunted ball down the first base line) what is the call if the ball is in fair territory?  If it is in foul territory?

The general rule (with an exception) is that a runner touched by a fair batted ball is out for INT. True here as well, and the exception won't apply. If he's in foul ground, it will matter whether the touching was intentional and whether the ball had a chance to become fair (could be INT), but it's probably just a foul ball.

Otherwise, all correct. Well done!

[ElkOil]

To distill a few things you touched on that may help you answer other questions as they come to mind is one, all bases and baselines are entirely in fair territory. All batter's box lines are entirely within the batter's box. Two, whether a touched batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the position of the ball relative to the foul line when it is touched by the fielder. Where the fielder is, is irrelevant.

Good work!

[Guest Carl]

Thank you gentlemen!

Follow up questions: 

1.  Is a "bounding" ball simply a ball that has hit the ground but has bounced up and is traveling in the air (I'm thinking "chopper", for example)?  As opposed to a ground ball that is in constant contact with the ground?  

2.  I forgot another basic scenario:  Ball is rolling in foul territory (or "bounding" I presume) but has not yet reached first/third:  (a) is touched or settles -- Foul (b) rolls back into fair territory and is touched or settles -- fair.   Can I assume that odd field conditions, such as poorly graded base paths, are just played as it goes?

3.  When does the call for fair/foul transfer from a plate ump to the base ump?  What if it's really close to that division and one calls fair and the other foul? 

[noumpere]

7 minutes ago, Guest Carl said:

Thank you gentlemen!

Follow up questions: 

1.  Is a "bounding" ball simply a ball that has hit the ground but has bounced up and is traveling in the air (I'm thinking "chopper", for example)?  As opposed to a ground ball that is in constant contact with the ground?  

2.  I forgot another basic scenario:  Ball is rolling in foul territory (or "bounding" I presume) but has not yet reached first/third:  (a) is touched or settles -- Foul (b) rolls back into fair territory and is touched or settles -- fair.   Can I assume that odd field conditions, such as poorly graded base paths, are just played as it goes?

3.  When does the call for fair/foul transfer from a plate ump to the base ump?  What if it's really close to that division and one calls fair and the other foul? 

1) Bounding just means "not in flight" -- so bouncing, chopper-two-hopper, grounder etc -- all the same

2) Yes.  One oddity is that if the ball hits an object such as a batting helmet in fair territory, the status in NOT yet determined (it can still become either fair or foul, depending on what happens next.  If the ball hits the helmet in foul territory, it's immediately foul.

3)  Usually -- if the ball becomes fair or foul *because* it passes the base (or first hit the ground beyond the base), it's BU's call.  If it becomes fair or foul *because* it settles or is touched in front of the base, it's PU's call.

[maven]

22 minutes ago, noumpere said:

1) Bounding just means "not in flight" -- so bouncing, chopper-two-hopper, grounder etc -- all the same

I threw in the word "bounding" because the rule uses that word (FAIR BALL in the definitions).