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TOPIC: Baserunners advancing after a caught fly ball |
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
July 11, 2011
10:58:07 AM
Entry #: 3760610
| I was recently asked this, so I thought I'd post it on the forum so more people could read it.
Game situation: With a runner (R3) on third base (3B), the batter hits a line drive to the third baseman (F5). The ball deflects off F5's glove, but the shortstop (F6) manages to catch it before it hits the ground. When can R3 advance?
Answer: The runner may advance once the ball is first touched by a fielder. In this situation, once the ball touched F5's glove, R3 may legally advance. It doesn't matter how many times it may be bobbled before it is caught, or how many fielders may touch it before it is caught, or which fielder finally makes the catch.
The confusion on this play is a fairly common misconception that the runner may not advance until the ball is actually caught, but the rule explicitly states that runners may advance when the ball is first touched.
History lesson: Many, many years ago, the rule actually was that the runners needed to wait until the ball was caught, but then an outfielder in the major leagues figured out a loophole with that. By intentionally juggling/bobbling the ball all the way to the infield, he was able to prevent runners from advancing on deep fly balls. This was too much of an advantage for the defense, so the rule was changed to allow the runner(s) to advance after first touch. That was over 100 years ago, and this has been the rule ever since.
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| Kevin
July 19, 2013
2:12:16 PM
Entry #: 4075035
| An interesting point. But to the unasked part of that situation, is the BATTER out if it deflects off one player and caught by another player or is the ball called dead after the initial failed catch and the batter is safe?
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
July 22, 2013
12:52:18 PM
Entry #: 4075638
| Kevin,
The key point is whether or not the ball is still 'in flight' when it is caught because:
-If it's still 'in flight' when caught, then the batter is out, the ball is 'live', and runners may advance after the fly ball was first touched.
-If it's no longer 'in flight' when caught, then it's treated just like any other uncaught fly ball. If it's a fair ball, then it's 'live' and runners may advance without having to tag up (the exception is if it's ruled dead for some other reason). If it's a foul ball, then it's 'dead', a strike to the batter, and any runners return to their base.
A fly ball is 'in flight' so long as it has touched nothing other than any fielder (or their properly worn equipment) if it has touched anything else, it is no longer 'in flight'.
Below are some examples (with rulings per Softball Canadait's always possible that some other rule sets may have subtle differences in rulings).
EXAMPLE 1: batter hits a pop-up back towards the backstop catcher (F2) goes back to make the catch, but it deflects off the glove, then off the backstop, and then is caught by F2 before it hits the ground. RULING: Once the fly ball hit the backstop, it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. This is simply a foul ball and a strike to the batter.
EXAMPLE 2: with runner at second base, batter hits a pop-up to the shortstop (F6) fly ball deflects off F6's glove, then off the runner, and then is caught by the pitcher. RULING: Once the batted ball touched the runner, it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball (and because the ball deflected off a fielder, the runner is not out additional consequences depend on exactly what happened, but most likely this will be a dead ball, the batter-runner awarded first base, and other runners return to their base unless forced to advance by the batter-runner).
EXAMPLE 3: batter hits a high pop-up halfway up the third-base line where the catcher (F2), pitcher (F1), and third-baseperson (F5) converge to try to catch the ball for better visibility, F1 removes their hat and holds in their throwing hand. While over foul territory, the fly ball hits F2's glove, deflects over fair territory where it hits F1's hat, and then is caught by F5 still over fair territory. RULING: once the fly ball hit the pitcher's hat (i.e. defensive equipment that was not properly worn), it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. And because it was first touched over foul territory, it is a foul ball, a strike to the batter, and any runners return to their base.
EXAMPLE 4: with multiple umpires, batter hits a pop-up down the right-field line. The right fielder (F10) sprints to make the catch and touches the fly ball over fair territory ball deflects off the glove, hits the first-base umpire in foul territory, and then is caught by the diving fielder while still over foul territory. RULING: once the ball hit the umpire, it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. Because it was first touched over fair territory by a fielder, it is a fair ball (and I have to admit I'd have to look this one up to determine whether the ball is live or dead after hitting the umpire).
EXAMPLE 5: batter hits a pop-up to shallow center field where the second-baseperson (F4), shortstop (F6), left-centerfielder (F8), and right-centerfielder (F9) converge. The fly ball deflects off F4's head, then off F6's shoulder, then off F8's glove, then bobbled multiple times off F9's barehand, and then finally caught by F6 before hitting the ground. RULING: this is a caught fly ball and the batter is out any runners on base may advance after the ball was first touched by F4.
Hope this helps,
Dennis
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| Dennis (Hosanna)
July 22, 2013
1:05:14 PM
Entry #: 4075646
| Arrgh! I keep forgetting that the LeagueLineup forums do not like semi-colons! That may make some of my previous post a little confusing, so I've pasted the examples again with editing for clarity:
EXAMPLE 1: The batter hits a pop-up back towards the backstop. The catcher (F2) goes back to make the catch, but it deflects off F2's glove, then off the backstop, and then is caught by F2 before it hits the ground. RULING: Once the fly ball hit the backstop, it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. This is simply a foul ball and a strike to the batter.
EXAMPLE 2: With a runner at second base, the batter hits a pop-up to the shortstop (F6). The fly ball deflects off F6's glove, then off the runner, and then is caught by the pitcher. RULING: Once the batted ball touched the runner, it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. And because the ball deflected off a fielder, the runner is not out. There would be additional consequences which depend on exactly what happened. This should most likely be a dead ball with the batter-runner awarded first base, and other runners would return to their base unless forced to advance by the batter-runner.
EXAMPLE 3: The batter hits a high pop-up halfway up the third-base line where the catcher (F2), pitcher (F1), and third-baseperson (F5) converge to try to catch the ball. For unobstructed vision, F1 removes their hat and holds in their throwing hand. While over foul territory, the fly ball hits F2's glove, deflects over fair territory where it hits F1's hat, and then is caught by F5 while still over fair territory. RULING: once the fly ball hit the pitcher's hat (i.e. defensive equipment that was not properly worn), it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. And because it was first touched over foul territory, it is a foul ball, a strike to the batter, and any runners return to their base.
EXAMPLE 4: With multiple umpires, the batter hits a pop-up down the right-field line. The right fielder (F10) sprints to make the catch and touches the fly ball over fair territory. The ball deflects off F10's glove, hits the first-base umpire in foul territory, and then is caught by the diving F10 while still over foul territory. RULING: Once the ball hit the umpire, it was no longer in flight, so this is NOT a caught fly ball. Because it was first touched over fair territory by a fielder, it is a fair ball (and I have to admit that I would have to look this one up to determine whether the ball is live or dead after hitting the umpire).
EXAMPLE 5: The batter hits a pop-up to shallow center field where the second-baseperson (F4), shortstop (F6), left-centerfielder (F8), and right-centerfielder (F9) converge. The fly ball deflects off F4's head, then off F6's shoulder, then off F8's glove, then is bobbled multiple times off F9's barehand, and then finally caught by F6 before hitting the ground. RULING: this is a caught fly ball and the batter is out. Any runners on base may advance after the ball was first touched by F4.
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