Flyball

[Guest Tyson]

A fielder caught a fly ball in foul territory, but then he dropped it on foul territory, is it a foul ball and batter is safe?

Is it legit if the fielder, who caught the foul fly ball, then he drops the ball from his hand in foul territory,  on purpose to prevent a runner goes home ?

[wolfe_man]

If he caught it, it's an out.   The umpire will judge if he maintained full possession of the ball to suffice a catch or not.   If the fielder drops it on transfer post-catch, then the batter is still out - but other runners may advance at their own risk after tagging up after the catch.

If after the catch, the fielder intentionally drops the ball - it's still an out because he caught the ball before he dropped it.   You can't catch and then un-catch a baseball - you either catch it or you do not catch it. 

If you wanted to try and keep a runner from tagging and going home, then you should just let the ball drop foul and hope the next pitch leads to a better outcome - but you cannot catch a ball and then drop it to stop it from happening.

Once a fielder touches the ball, the runner is free to advance.  If he doesn't make the catch in the umpire's judgment, then the runner would be sent back for it's a foul ball - but if he completed the catch, then the runners may advance at their own risk.

[beerguy55]

2 minutes ago, Guest Tyson said:

A fielder caught a fly ball in foul territory, but then he dropped it on foul territory, is it a foul ball and batter is safe?

Is it legit if the fielder, who caught the foul fly ball, then he drops the ball from his hand in foul territory,  on purpose to prevent a runner goes home ?

If he catches the fly ball then it's a catch...the batter is out, and tagged runners may advance (it's still a foul ball regardless).

If he touches the uncaught flyball in foul territory (only matters where the ball is, not the fielder) it's a foul ball...he may opt to to not catch it to prevent R3 from tagging up and advancing home...it's a sound play to make in a tie game in late innings.   

But dropping it means literally not catching it...either letting it drop in foul territory untouched...or letting it hit the outside of your glove and then falling to the ground without ever obtaining control.

If you are deemed to have caught and controlled the ball, and then voluntarily let it drop, it's a catch.

[Guest Tyso]

So if you drop the caught ball this will be a fair ball even in foul territory? 

[Tborze]

5 minutes ago, Guest Tyso said:

So if you drop the caught ball this will be a fair ball even in foul territory? 

This would be a live ball in foul territory. 

[BLWizzRanger]

You guys are saints.

Sent from my SM-F721U1 using Tapatalk

[beerguy55]

2 hours ago, Guest Tyso said:

So if you drop the caught ball this will be a fair ball even in foul territory? 

It's a foul ball, and the batter is out, and the play is live...any runners may advance (and also must tag up before doing so).

[Guest Tyson]

9 minutes ago, beerguy55 said:

It's a foul ball, and the batter is out, and the play is live...any runners may advance (and also must tag up before doing so).

What? So a fielder caught a foul fly ball,  then he drops the ball from his hand in foul territory,  on purpose to prevent a runner?

[noumpere]

15 minutes ago, Guest Tyson said:

What? So a fielder caught a foul fly ball,  then he drops the ball from his hand in foul territory,  on purpose to prevent a runner?

He is not preventing the runner from doing anything.

 

If he drops the ball in dead ball territory (that's completely different from foul territory), then we have a different play.

[beerguy55]

24 minutes ago, Guest Tyson said:

What? So a fielder caught a foul fly ball,  then he drops the ball from his hand in foul territory,  on purpose to prevent a runner?

I don't know why he'd drop a ball he just caught, whether in foul territory or fair territory...it's not preventing anything.

If he were to allow the ball to fall into foul territory uncaught that would prevent a runner from tagging up and advancing.

[SH0102]

3 hours ago, Guest Tyson said:

A fielder caught a fly ball in foul territory, but then he dropped it on foul territory, is it a foul ball and batter is safe?

Is it legit if the fielder, who caught the foul fly ball, then he drops the ball from his hand in foul territory,  on purpose to prevent a runner goes home ?

You answered your own question.  A caught fly ball can not be “foul”. It can be caught in fair or foul territory, but the ball is never foul if caught, it is a live ball.

The fielder dropping the ball is no different than the ball slipping out when he throws, or he throws to cut off and it hits the ground first, it’s just a normal live ball

[beerguy55]

10 minutes ago, SH0102 said:

A caught fly ball can not be “foul”.

What are your mechanics on a ball that is caught near the line...foul/fair signal first...out second...is it not?

It's a foul ball  before it's a caught ball.  That is because it is touched before (even ever so slightly) it is caught.

 

A ball caught in foul territory is a foul ball...it's just not dead.

 

EDIT: OBR 5.06(c)(5)...The ball becomes dead...when (5)  A foul ball is not caught, in which case runners return to their bases

[SH0102]

3 minutes ago, beerguy55 said:

What are your mechanics on a ball that is caught near the line...foul/fair signal first...out second...is it not?

It's a foul ball  before it's a caught ball.  That is because it is touched before (even ever so slightly) it is caught.

 

A ball caught in foul territory is a foul ball...it's just not dead.

Definition of foul ball, no part says a caught ball is foul. The signal is to show judgment as to which side of line the first point of contact was made.

Does an umpire ever say “foul”? No. Why? Bc that would kill the action.

It isn’t a foul ball, it’s a live caught ball that was caught in foul territory

[beerguy55]

6 minutes ago, SH0102 said:

Definition of foul ball, no part says a caught ball is foul. The signal is to show judgment as to which side of line the first point of contact was made.

Does an umpire ever say “foul”? No. Why? Bc that would kill the action.

It isn’t a foul ball, it’s a live caught ball that was caught in foul territory

I added this edit just as you responded...from OBR.

 

EDIT: OBR 5.06(c)(5)...The ball becomes dead...when (5)  A foul ball is not caught, in which case runners return to their bases

 

If they acknowledge a foul ball is not caught, there must also be a caught state for a foul ball.  ergo, a caught foul ball is live.

 

Also - in the definition of a foul ball includes the language "touches the person of an umpire or player"...nor is there a qualifier that says "unless caught".

[noumpere]

50 minutes ago, SH0102 said:

Does an umpire ever say “foul”?

 

Yes.

[mac266]

Oh my goodness...

[Guest Tyson]

So once you caught a foul fly ball you can not turn it into a foul ball and a dead ball if you drop it from your hands in foul territory although you do it on purpose and immediately after the catch, right?

[Tborze]

2 minutes ago, Guest Tyson said:

So once you caught a foul fly ball you can not turn it into a foul ball and a dead ball if you drop it from your hands in foul territory although you do it on purpose and immediately after the catch, right?

Right!

Unless you drop it into Dead ball territory!  

Then you would have a caught fly ball in foul territory which becomes dead.  

 

[beerguy55]

20 minutes ago, Guest Tyson said:

So once you caught a foul fly ball you can not turn it into a foul ball and a dead ball if you drop it from your hands in foul territory although you do it on purpose and immediately after the catch, right?

 

By rule, an uncaught foul ball is dead.

By extension, a caught foul ball is live. Simply dropping it into foul territory doesn't make it dead.  Once it's caught, it's caught.  The batter is out, and the ball is live.  You'd have to throw it over the fence (Dead Ball Territory) to make it dead...and that would give the runners two free bases.