[Rich Ives]

Where the "fair ball" crowd is coming from:

What rule is it "a foul" of?

3D Demo you can do yourself at home:

Draw a foul line on the ground.

Place first base on the line in accordance with the rules.

Take a baseball and place it so it is 3/10 in fair territory and 7/10 in foul territory, and touching the base on the "home plate" side.

Per rule 2.00, this is a fair ball.

Now move the ball 1/8" toward home plate, keeping it 3/10 in fair territory and 7/10 in foul territory. It is now no longer touching first base. Try to convince any rational being that it is now a foul ball.

If it's fair at 1/8" it's fair at 45'