Quote:
Originally posted by Rich Ives
If the last 1/4" of a fly ball hits the foul pole and the ball glances off the foul pole to the foul side, it's a home run isn't? Other than the distance travelled, what's the difference here?
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Rich:
I am simply amazed at this discussion. Obviously, a ball that HITS the foul pole is a fair ball. (Duh!) A ball that hits a chalk line beyond the base is a fair ball. A ball that stops rolling in front of the base is a fair ball if it's touching the line.
But we're talking about a ball that "breaks the plane" of the foul line WITHOUT TOUCHING IT.
Blarson said that he's "always" called such a ball fair. In nearly 50 years of baseball, that's the most intriguing statement I've ever heard about the game, for in that time I have never seen a ball stop in such a position, and I have never spoken to any umpire who has. BLarson, the minor league umpire reported in Referee, and the originator of this thread stand alone in my experience.
Once we admit that a ball can be fair without touching the line because part of it sticks OVER the line, what will we say to the coach who claims that the batted ball broke the plane as it passed over third base? Remember, we're talking at most about a half inch viewed by an umpire from 90 feet away.
Fellows: We cannot begin to deal in microcentimeters. A ball that kicks up chalk is easy to call. Right? Even worse: Imagine how to explain to a defensive coach that a ball that passed to the left of the foul pole in left field is a fair ball, home run, because as it passed it broke the plane of the pole.
After reflection, I come to the conclusion this thread is a joke. Right? You're yanking my chain. Right?