Quote:
Originally Posted by chapmaja
I guess I need to be included in the group which says the ball has no status fair / foul until is actually meets the definition of a fair ball or a foul ball by the rule book. We may come to an educated conclusion a ball will be fair or foul, but the ball has not actually attained that status until the ball meets that definition.
For example, we have the bases loaded, 2 outs and a 3-2 count. The runners are leaving hard towards the next base on the release of the pitch. The batter hits a popup with a lot of backspin on it that lands on the between first and the pitchers plate without being touched. Due to the spin the ball rolls backward and crosses the foul line and settles after the 3 base runners have all reached base and the batter runner has reached first base.
Everyone has attained a base from what they occupied at the time of the pitch, prior to the ball's status being determined. The ruling is still a foul ball and everyone goes back to the base occupied at the time of the pitch. Everyone may have assumed the status of the ball would be fair given it was hit into fair territory, but nothing actually made the status of the ball fair so the ball never attained the status of a fair ball.
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IMO, the status of the ball is determined simultaneously with anything which causes the play to be dead.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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