Quote:
Originally posted by mcrowder
And of COURSE you can catch a foul fly ball.
|
Actually, there is no such thing.
There are fly balls and there are foul balls. A fly ball over foul territory is not a foul ball, since the fly ball is live and the foul ball is dead.
That is the contradiction Striker was pointing out.
If a fly ball hits the screen, it is immediately a foul ball and is dead. The catcher catching it means nothing.
Same thing if you call a fly ball off a tree a foul ball. It is dead and a catch means nothing.
If you are keeping the ball live for a catch off the tree, you must also keep it alive for all other purposes. For example, the ball hits the tree branch over foul territory, drops to the ground and rolls into fair territory. If you are keeping the ball live for a catch, then what I just described would be a fair ball.
Striker, being part of nature does not mean part of the ground. A ball cannot become blocked by the natural ground. Would you consider a ball that went into the tree and rattled around in the branches several seconds a blocked ball? Would you consider a ball that went into a tree and lodged in the crotch of one of the branches a blocked ball? If yes, then how can the tree be part of the natural ground? Shouldn't you be requiring the fielders to climb the tree?
I know I am being absurd, but it is absurdity to make a point. You want consistency - let's have consistency.
Without a ground rule discussion, if it hits the tree over foul territory, it is a foul ball.
You keep bringing up the tree over fair territory, probably because you think it is a better argument, so you ignore the foul territory issue that was the original scenario.
Name me one MLB park with a tree overhanging the field. MLB rules for speakers in domed stadia mean absolutely nothing wrt amateur softball.
And don't have such a thin skin.