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TOPIC: Batted ball hits home plate |
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
August 9, 2006
8:47:07 AM
Entry #: 1609065
| This came up in our game last night, and in my umpiring experience, it seams to be a common misconception, so I thought I’d bring it up here.
Speaking Softball Canada (which we follow), when a batted ball hits home plate, it is NOT automatically a dead ball. It is in play and will be either a fair ball or foul ball depending on what happens afterwards.
You will not find this directly covered in the rule book, but I will point out two things:
1. Home plate is entirely in fair territory (as are all the other bases except the orange portion of first base).
2. The rulebook index includes an entry for “Batted Ball, Settles on Home Plate” and directs you to Rule 1-24a, which states, “FAIR BALL is a legally batted ball which settles on fair territory between home and first base or between home and third base.”
It doesn’t specifically say a ball which settles on home plate, but since home plate is entirely in fair territory, then settling on home plate means it settled on fair territory. If this was to be considered a foul ball, it would have said so.
As far as I know, the other rulesets (e.g. SPN, NSA, ASA) treat it the same way.
Likewise, the strike mat is also in play. The mat isn’t official equipment, so you will find no mention of it in the Softball Canada rulebook. Therefore, any rules applying to the strike mat must be spelled out in the league rules. Without any rule explicitly saying that a batted ball is dead if it hits the mat, one must assume that it is no different than hitting the ground, so the ball is in play and may bound fair or foul (but note that the strike mat is entirely in foul territory).
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| Rudy Welz
August 15, 2006
2:34:37 PM
Entry #: 1621626
| Great tip Dennis,
I agree the situation comes up so rarely that most players are not sure of the rule.
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
August 17, 2006
10:39:20 AM
Entry #: 1625661
| This was the first time that I recall it causing a 'discussion' in our league, but I have come across it more while umpiring other leagues. I'm not aware of any leagues that overrule the official rules, but there is at least one local tournament organizer (Canadian Softball Athletics) that explicitly treats all batted balls that hit the strike mat as being dead balls, so that adds confusion to the issue.
Fortunately, most players will play the ball anyway, which is a good mindset to have--always assume the ball is live and in play until and unless you hear the umpire rule otherwise.
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| chris
August 21, 2006
11:42:01 PM
Entry #: 1633645
| Once Lindsay Griener hit a ball straight down onto the wooden mat, where it stopped almost dead and eventually rolled off the front into fair territory. I was umping and didn't call the ball foul, but needless to say everyone was just staring back and forth between the ball and me until I shouted to Lindsay to run!
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
August 30, 2006
3:28:48 PM
Entry #: 1650959
| Perhaps the better call would have been, "Play On!" That way, you're encouraging both teams to react to the fair ball.
Btw, I've come across another league that explicitly declares a batted ball dead if it hits the mat--Southside Mixed Slowpitch League. I had it happen twice in one playoff game that I officiated last night. Unfortunately, they didn't get me a copy of their houserules in advance, and I didn't think to ask about this one when trying to anticipate the possible rule variances during the plate meeting.
In that league, they use a plywood mat without a cutout, so it covers the back corner of homeplate. So that means that a ball that hits the mat above the plate (i.e. lands entirely fair) and stays fair is still a foul ball. That's just silly, imho.
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
July 29, 2009
9:39:19 AM
Entry #: 3229905
| This is an old thread that was buried on page 2 of the forum, so I'm posting just to bump it back to the top.
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
July 30, 2009
8:30:47 AM
Entry #: 3230952
| The Softball Canada Umpire Casebook has a case relevant to this situation. From the 2007 edition, case play 1-49 (pg 18):
"The batter swings at the pitched ball, hitting the underside of it. The ball lands in fair or foul territory, between home and third base, and spins backwards toward home plate. The catcher lets the ball roll untouched, believing it will spin foul. The ball comes to rest on home plate.
Ruling: A batted ball coming to rest on home plate is a fair ball. The ball is alive and in play.
The ball landing in fair or foul territory has no significance in this situation, because it landed between home and 3rd, and not beyond third base."
Note that this edition of the Casebook is posted on the Softball Canada website at:
http://softball-ca.sitepreview.ca/files///CASEBOOKFORWEB2007.PDF
Rudy also hot-linked that page on our links page.
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| Rudy (Free Agent)
August 4, 2009
11:56:06 PM
Entry #: 3236435
| Hi Dennis, a related situation came up.
Batted ball hits the mat, and then bounces off the batter's left leg going into the infield. I would not have thought it possible until I saw it.
Could you explain the rules regarding the offensive team (batter or baserunner) being hit by the ball?
It happens so rarely that most players are unsure.
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
August 12, 2009
1:29:07 PM
Entry #: 3244071
| Rudy, in your situation:
1) the batted ball hit the matt. This is 'nothing', and the ball is still live. It is not yet fair or foul.
2) the batted rebounded and hit the batter. Assuming that the batter was still in the batter's box, then by rule this is a foul ball.
Note that if the batter left the batter's box and is then hit by the fair ball (rare but can happen), then it is foul is the contact occurred over foul territory. But if the contact occurred over fair territory, it is a fair ball and is ruled interference (ball is dead, batter is out, and other runners return to last base held at time of interference).
In our league, with the batter's boxes not marked, I would be generous in estimating the batter's box. In other words, if doubt, assume the batter was still in the box (especially if they were still recovering from the swing) and rule this a foul ball.
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
August 12, 2009
1:47:24 PM
Entry #: 3244100
| Rudy, I explained the rules specific to your example, but then noticed that you also asked more generally about baserunners getting hit by a batted ball. Here goes. . .
If a baserunner is hit by a ball in foul territory, it is (usually) simply a foul ball. There is no penalty. The only exception is if they are hit by a foul fly that is catchable (with ordinary effort).
If a baserunner is hit by a ball while standing on their base, then the ball is dead, the batter is awarded 1B, and other runners only advance if forced. The hit runner is not out except if the ball was a catchable fly ball. In that case, the base is not a safe haven for the runner.
If a baserunner is hit by a fair ball while off the base, the ball is immediately dead and the batter-runner is awarded 1B. Other runners only advance if forced by the batter-runner. The runner that was hit by the batted ball may or may not be out:
-if the ball had not passed an infielder excluding the pitcher, then the runner is out,
-if the ball had passed an infielder other than the pitcher AND any other fielder had a chance to make an out, then the runner is out,
-if the ball had passed an infielder other than the pitcher AND no other fielder had a chance to make an out, then the runner is NOT out,
-if the ball was touched by any fielder (including the pitcher), then the runner is NOT out.
Maybe I should have put this in a separate thread?
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
August 12, 2009
1:54:39 PM
Entry #: 3244112
| Arrgh! This forum doesn't have 'preview' and is not editable!
Two posts back, I wrote the following:
"Note that if the batter left the batter's box and is then hit by the fair ball (rare but can happen), then it is foul is the contact occurred over foul territory. But if the contact occurred over fair territory, it is a fair ball and is ruled interference (ball is dead, batter is out, and other runners return to last base held at time of interference)."
That first "fair ball" should have been "batted ball". There were a few other errors. I meant to write:
Note that if the batter left the batter's box and is then hit by the batted ball (rare but can happen), then it is foul if the contact occurred over foul territory. But if the contact occurred over fair territory, it is a fair ball and the contact is ruled interference (ball is dead, batter is out, and other runners return to last base held at time of interference).
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