Quote:
|
Originally Posted by spots101
Was at a D'Back game last night and was sitting next to a baseball encyclopedia. He said that during the Babe Ruth era balls that curved around (or in back of) the foul pole were called foul instead of fair like they are today. Had never heard of this. Any comments??
|
Up to around 1930-31 the ball was judged fair/foul at the point "last seen by the umpire." So yes, the Babe probably had some homeruns ruled foul balls.
However, he was compensated by the fact that until the same time batted balls that bounced over the fence were called home runs. So he got credit for some home runs that would be ground rule doubles today.
Probably balanced out.