[greymule]

My reaction to the question was this:

Everybody knows that a fly ball that touches a fielder's glove and then goes directly over the fence fair is a 4-base award and does not count as a home run against the team's total. While I've had teams contend (in all seriousness) that it's not a four-base award if the ball would not have gone over without the fielder's help, that misconception is rare.

Not too long ago, ASA clarified that rule to include not just balls that hit the glove and then went over, but also balls that went past the top of the fence (went over) and then were touched and subsequently fell to the ground on the other side of the fence. Apparently in some tournament a team contested such a play as not meeting the strict definition of "hits the glove and then goes over," and technically they were right. So since ASA has dealt with the various possibilities in this play, I considered whether they were trying to emphasize the exceptions.

But I no longer care whether I get ASA test questions correct as long as I know what to call in a game, so this time I guessed that they had simply been sloppy in constructing the question.

It wouldn't take much effort to proofread the tests, but ASA apparently does not do that. In #39, they mislabeled a runner, and then there's #14:

R1 on 3B, and R2 on 1B. On a passed ball the on-deck batter interferes with the catcher's opportunity to throw out R2 at 3B. The umpire rules dead ball and returns R2 to 2B.

So I figure, well, interference with a possible out would have to result in an out, so the answer has to be false. But I had a hard time visualizing the play. This question would have been better as multiple choice, since it's R1 (closest to home), not R2 (being played on), who would be out.

And this gem: #9SP-- The batter hits a pitched ball that first strikes the plate over the fence . . .

And throw Momma from the train.