Foul-Tip Strike Rules

[Guest HammerJack]

1. Are foul tip into the glove treated as strikes or foul balls? More specifically, is the ball dead after a foul tip caught by the catcher?

2. Would a runner that attempted a steal (say 2nd base) on a foul tip caught strike 3 be A) required to return to first (dead ball), B) required to return to first at the risk of being thrown out at first like leaving early on a tag up (since the ball was caught by the catcher), or C) allowed to continue to 2nd like a normal steal, at risk of being thrown out?

[kylehutson]

A foul tip (directly to the catcher's glove and CAUGHT by the catcher - just to make sure we're on exactly the same page) is a live ball and treated exactly the same as a swing-and-a-miss by the batter. The ball is still live, and a runner stealing can continue just as as before (i.e., option "C")

[Guest HammerJack]

24 minutes ago, kylehutson said:

A foul tip (directly to the catcher's glove and CAUGHT by the catcher - just to make sure we're on exactly the same page) is a live ball and treated exactly the same as a swing-and-a-miss by the batter. The ball is still live, and a runner stealing can continue just as as before (i.e., option "C")

Yes, caught by the catcher. I assume a foul tip DROPPED by the catcher is treated as an standard foul ball?

[kylehutson]

13 minutes ago, Guest HammerJack said:

Yes, caught by the catcher. I assume a foul tip DROPPED by the catcher is treated as an standard foul ball?

Correct

[SH0102]

4 hours ago, Guest HammerJack said:

Yes, caught by the catcher. I assume a foul tip DROPPED by the catcher is treated as an standard foul ball?

To hopefully help you understand, “a foul tip dropped”, by definition is not a foul tip, it is a standard foul ball.

Try to use the word tip anytime the catcher catches it (can be any strike, not just strike three), and that is always a live ball.

Anytime the foul is not caught, it is a foul ball, ball is dead, runners return

[MadMax]

5 hours ago, Guest HammerJack said:

2. Would a runner that attempted a steal (say 2nd base) on a foul tip caught strike 3 be ... B) required to return to first at the risk of being thrown out at first like leaving early on a tag up (since the ball was caught by the catcher),

As to “B”, that answer is “Never”, for the definitions to a Foul Tip and a Pop-Up / Pop-Fly are opposed. 

A Foul Tip is a ball that contacts the bat and goes “sharp and direct” to the A) catcher’s body (and contacts nothing else; OBR) or B) catcher’s mitt or (free) hand first (NCAA, Fed). Typically, a pop-up does neither of those things, and it especially doesn’t go sharp and direct.

[noumpere]

6 hours ago, kylehutson said:

 treated exactly the same as a swing-and-a-miss by the batter.

There are two exceptions to this, but those are beyond the scope of this portion of UE

[Replacematt]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

As to “B”, that answer is “Never”, for the definitions to a Foul Tip and a Pop-Up / Pop-Fly are opposed. 

A Foul Tip is a ball that contacts the bat and goes “sharp and direct” to the A) catcher’s body (and contacts nothing else; OBR) or B) catcher’s mitt or (free) hand first (NCAA, Fed). Typically, a pop-up does neither of those things, and it especially doesn’t go sharp and direct.

NCAA is the same as OBR.