Batter Interference 0r Foul Ball?

[Gr8Dane]

Check out this baseball rules interpretation page. Look at the 5th section down below "After hitting the ball SAFE"
http://baseball-rules.com/batterbox.htm

Now look at the MLB 2019 OBR - see attached screen clip.

THE QUESTION IS: After hitting a fair ball, the batter takes one step completely out of the box - the other foot is still in the box - and the ball hits the player in fair territory. Out? or Foul ball? Is the player protected from interference with one foot out of the box like that?

We are going round and round about this on two different umpire groups on Facebook.

[maven]

The pro rule does not mention the feet. That's interpretation.

The rule says: the batter is exempt from INT here when in "a legal position in the batter's box," and it cites 5.04(b)(5).

That rule says: "The batter's legal position shall be with both feet within the box."

So the pro rule is: the batter is exempt from INT on these plays only when both feet are within the batter's box.

There's nothing in the rule about "in the air" or any such thing. And pro interps, IIRC, mention no such extension of "a legal position."

That said, I'd enforce this rule the same for amateur ball as the FED rule, and call that a foul ball, until the clearly batter has a foot outside the box. Outs that cheap can ruin your game.

[Jimurray]

9 hours ago, Gr8Dane said:

Well, I was an ump 30 years ago and just jumped back in for Little League this year, so yeah I just discovered this rule change this year. And there is no way in hell MLB would ever say you are out of the batter's box because you lifted your foot. That is ridiculous.

Peruse this thread for video examples that might still be accessible. It also addresses our confusion on the rule but MLB is calling it strictly:

 

 

[beerguy55]

11 hours ago, Gr8Dane said:

Scroll up and see a great explanation of foot on or off the ground. I shall quote...
 

"You're not out of the box until your foot completely touches the ground outside of it.

ie. you stand on the front line of the box with your back foot, and your front foot in the air - you hit the ball it is legal as you are still in the box...as long as that one foot touching the ground is touching some part of the box.

3d space only matters in determining the status of a ball - where the ball is in space in relation to fair/foul/out-of-play...for people, status is dictated by what they are touching or last touched (mostly)"

If @Jimurray is right, and he probably is, I will say I qualified my position on that (ie. I think), as I wasn't 100% certain.  I know I was taught this, but I may have been taught wrong.  It may also be different in softball where running slaps are more common.  In either scenario, as I stated before, all this happens so fast, and the ump is probably looking at the ball, not the batter's feet, so any judgment the umpire makes here shouldn't be disputed - in short, it's moot until amateur ball invokes super slo mo replay.   I know you want to get it right, but under the guise of getting it right, I'd say, if it's not obvious he's out of the box, call it foul.  If it's obvious, it doesn't matter to the technical detail.

[beerguy55]

14 hours ago, Gr8Dane said:

I think what Rich Ives is pointing out is that the premise here is the ball hits the batter over fair territory, so it's not fair or foul depending on his feet, it's INT-dead ball-out ...or foul ball...depending on where his feet are. But, yeah I think we're all talking about the same thing in different ways.

The reason it's "int-dead ball-out" is because it is a fair batted ball.  It becomes fair the moment it hits the batter - provided the ball is in fair territory and the batter is out of the box...it is fair AND it is dead.