Official rules of baseball (fan interference)

[Guest Paul]

1	R3. 1 out. The ball is popped up in foul territory, deep down the right field line. A fan reaches over the fence and catches the ball, just before the right fielder can make the grab. The fielder would have been able to catch the ball had the fan not reached out. The umpire should call the batter out and score the run from third.
A	True
B	False

[noumpere]

Fan interference is a "god" rule -- the umpire determines what would have happened and makes it so.  It can occur when a fan reaches over the playing field; it cannot occur if the ball is over the stands.

 

Given that, I think you can answer the test question.

[Rich Ives]

BUT it's not that simple. If the fielder knows it's foul he can allow it to drop so the run cannot score.  Watch the fielder for clues.  I'd argue that F9 was going to let it fall if I was the defensive coach so the run should not score..

[noumpere]

32 minutes ago, Rich Ives said:

BUT it's not that simple. If the fielder knows it's foul he can allow it to drop so the run cannot score.  Watch the fielder for clues.  I'd argue that F9 was going to let it fall if I was the defensive coach so the run should not score..

While I agree with you IRL that we need to watch the fielder, the question clearly indicates " just before the right fielder can make the grab ."

 

The question is about how to enforce fan interference, not how to judge it.

[Rich Ives]

4 hours ago, noumpere said:

While I agree with you IRL that we need to watch the fielder, the question clearly indicates " just before the right fielder can make the grab ."

 

The question is about how to enforce fan interference, not how to judge it.

I'll bet Guest Paul didn't consider the possibility and assumed F9 would catch it.