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Originally Posted by CoachJM
tussagee11,
While it is hard to say definitively without having been there, I would certainly agree with Nick and Don that it would appear you made the correct call in the situation you described.
If I'm reading your post correctly, you have two other questions.
1. What constitutes "direct" in the context of the rule.
and
2. How does the "angle of deflection" affect the proper ruling.
Question 1 is fairly straightforward, while question 2 is a little trickier.
Question 1:
As Don says, "When the ball goes from bat to chest protector to mitt, it is not direct." This is absolutely correct. For a foul tip to be "direct" enough, the first thing it must hit after hitting the bat is "the catcher's glove or hand." If it hits something else first (chest protector, shin guard, umpire, the ground, whatever...) it cannot be a "foul tip".
If it does hit the catcher's glove or hand first, and then hits something else, and the catcher ultimately catches it, it mayor may not be a foul tip. If it has hit the catcher's glove or hand first and is still "in flight" (in the strict baseball sense) when the catcher gains secure posession, it is a foul tip. (Under FED rules, I believe this is also true if a fielder other than the catcher is the one to achieve secure posession.)
Question 2:
Here is how I think of it, and this may not be the correct way to think of it. If the "foul tip" rule did not exist, any time the pitch hit the bat and the catcher held on to it while the ball was still "in flight", the batter would be out. (Ref. 6.05(a)). The count wouldn't matter.
The rulesmakers decided that if the batter "barely nicked" the pitch, and altered it's path so slightly that the catcher managed to catch it anyway, the defense hadn't really "earned" an out if the batter has less than two strikes.
So, they decided to treat it as if the batter had "swung and missed".
Now, there are a couple of things that most people seem to intuitively "get" and "not get" about this rule.
The things people seem to "get" are:
1. A foul tip is properly ruled a strike.
2. If the foul tip is strike three, the batter is out. If it is not strike three he is not out.
The things people seem to "not get" are:
1. The ball remains live.
2. The ball remains live.
So, to see if this makes any sense, I'm going to pose two hypothetical situations and ask you for your ruling in each. (If you are certain you know the answers, please refrain from responding for awhile.)
In both situations, there is 1 out, an R1 and an R2, and the count is 2 balls, 1 strike on the batter.
Both runners are stealing on the pitch.
In both situations, the catcher eventually catches the ball, which is still "in flight" , while both he and the ball are completely in fair territory.
In both situations, the batter takes a mighty swing and barely nicks the ball.
In both situations, having caught the ball, the catcher fires it to F3, who steps on 1B as the R1 and R2 reach their advance bases.
In situation A, the ball tipped the catcher's glove, hit his helmet and bounced 20' in the air (over fair territory).
In situation B, it didn't tip his glove and everything else is the same.
What's your call?
JM
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