Foul tip or strike three

[Guest Robert E Rofidal]

Two strikes on batter

Foul tip

Ball sticks in crotch of catcher

Ball did not touch the ground or catcher’s glove

Strike three or foul tip

[noumpere]

15 minutes ago, Guest Robert E Rofidal said:

Strike three or foul tip

Neither.   It's just a foul ball.

A "foul tip" has a specific meaning, and is mis-used by most announcers, coaches, players, and fans.  It's a ball that goes sharply and directly to the ctcher's mitt and is caught.  It is (except for two very rare circumstances that I won't bore you with here) treated just as a "swing and a miss for a strike."

In your play, since the ball didn't first hit the catcher's mitt, it can't be a foul tip -- so it's a foul ball.

[bevanation]

25 minutes ago, noumpere said:

It is (except for two very rare circumstances that I won't bore you with here) treated just as a "swing and a miss for a strike."

 

Can you fill us in on these two rare circumstances?

[Lou B]

Batter has two strikes.  Batter attempts to hunt but hits a foul-tip to the catchers glove.  Is the batter out for hitting a foul ball on a strike three bunt attempt or did the batter strike out on a strike three foul-tip?

[noumpere]

20 minutes ago, bevanation said:

Can you fill us in on these two rare circumstances?

It would be better for you (and others) to figure it out.  Many here know them.  Answers are hidden below.  Highlight the text to reveal.

 

Hitting the ball while a foot is outside the batter's box (or on the plate in FED / NCAA) is still an illegally batted ball and not a foul tip.  I never saw this.

Hitting the ball after it hits the ground is a caught pitch (foul tip) and not an uncaught pitch.  Affects D3k situations. Saw this once.

[MadMax]

1 minute ago, Lou B said:

Batter has two strikes.  Batter attempts to bunt but hits a foul-tip to the catchers glove.  Is the batter out for hitting a foul ball on a strike three bunt attempt or did the batter strike out on a strike three foul-tip?

The latter, because the ball remains Live.

Otherwise, with a bunt attempt judged to be Foul, the ball is Dead. The batter, because it is a Foul Bunt Attempt as the 3rd Strike, is ruled Out.

[Umpire in Chief]

I wish I was at my home computer I have a bookmark to the Brian McCann that he caught by the dugout.

[noumpere]

59 minutes ago, Lou B said:

Batter has two strikes.  Batter attempts to hunt but hits a foul-tip to the catchers glove.  Is the batter out for hitting a foul ball on a strike three bunt attempt or did the batter strike out on a strike three foul-tip?

Batter has two strikes.  Batter attempts to hunt swings but hits a foul-tip to the catchers glove.  Is the batter out for hitting a foul ball on a strike three bunt attempt it a foul ball or did the batter strike out on a strike three foul-tip?

 

You know the answer to that question -- apply the same logic to your question and the answer will be obvious.

[ArchAngel72]

2 hours ago, noumpere said:

It would be better for you (and others) to figure it out.  Many here know them.  Answers are hidden below.  Highlight the text to reveal.

 

Hitting the ball while a foot is outside the batter's box (or on the plate in FED / NCAA) is still an illegally batted ball and not a foul tip.  I never saw this.

Hitting the ball after it hits the ground is a caught pitch (foul tip) and not an uncaught pitch.  Affects D3k situations. Saw this once.

 

OK I was baffled by this but I now assume you are saying the batter swung at a ball that was "bounced" by the pitcher and the batter did not make good contact and it was "foul tipped" as the catcher directly caught the deflected ball.

See the wording is a bit chunky for me. I read that and thought if he hit a double in the gap its a foul tip and not an uncaught pitch.. was like HUUUH?

 

[Senor Azul]

From the 2016 BRD (section 76, p. 71): 

Official Interpretation:  Wendelstedt:  If a pitched ball bounces in the dirt and then is hit sharp and direct to the catcher’s glove or hand, and is then caught, that shall be a foul tip.

And here is what the 2018 Little League Rules Instruction Manual says about foul tips.

A FOUL TIP is a batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher’s hands and is legally caught. It is not a foul tip unless caught and any foul tip that is caught is a strike, and the ball is in play. It is not a catch if it is a rebound, unless the ball has first touched the catcher’s glove or hand. A foul tip can only be caught by the catcher.

EXAMPLE: - Foul tip can only be caught by the catcher. Play: Pitched ball goes sharply from the bat into the catcher’s mask and is then caught by the catcher. Ruling: Foul ball. To be declared a foul tip, ball must go directly to the catcher’s glove or hand; it may rebound off the mask or chest and still be a foul tip.

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS:

The ball is alive and in play on a foul tip. Runners may advance as well as being thrown out on a foul tip. A rebound would be a ball batted sharply to the catcher that does not hit the mitt first, but is finally held by the catcher. This would not be a catch, but simply a foul ball, dead ball.

[noumpere]

2 hours ago, ArchAngel72 said:

OK I was baffled by this but I now assume you are saying the batter swung at a ball that was "bounced" by the pitcher and the batter did not make good contact and it was "foul tipped" as the catcher directly caught the deflected ball.

See the wording is a bit chunky for me. I read that and thought if he hit a double in the gap its a foul tip and not an uncaught pitch.. was like HUUUH?

 

Yes -- both of these things "look like" foul tips, but aren't.

[Lou B]

3 hours ago, noumpere said:

Batter has two strikes.  Batter attempts to hunt swings but hits a foul-tip to the catchers glove.  Is the batter out for hitting a foul ball on a strike three bunt attempt it a foul ball or did the batter strike out on a strike three foul-tip?

 

You know the answer to that question -- apply the same logic to your question and the answer will be obvious.

Not quite the same thing since a batter swinging and fouling off strike three isn't an out as it is when he bunts a ball foul on the third strike!bun

That said, I have no problem ruling the foul tip as strike three and keeping the ball live over calling the batter out for fouling a pitch on strike three.

[noumpere]

1 hour ago, Lou B said:

Not quite the same thing

Agreed, but it's the same logic / question -- is it a dead / foul ball or a live-ball strike.  Then (if it were a foul ball) apply the appropriate ruling -- out on a bunt; back to bat if a swing.

 

You are jumping past the first part or conflating the two parts.

[Rich Ives]

11 hours ago, noumpere said:

Hitting the ball after it hits the ground is a caught pitch (foul tip) and not an uncaught pitch.  Affects D3k situations. Saw this once.

NOPE! It's a foul tip because it became a batted ball when tipped.