[mbyron]

Well, I had 2 nasty fair/foul calls lately. Both were in 18U tourney games.

1. R1, RH batter is a little late and loops a liner down the RF line. F3 is just inside the line, and the coach comes up to the line just in foul territory. They're looking down the line and block me out. Ball drops fast - too fast for me to read the problem and adjust to see where it lands.

2. R1, RH batter pulls one to deep left, right into the setting sun. I move down the line, watching F7 run toward the line to make the play. I try to pick up the ball, but can't. Next time I see the ball it's bouncing up.

I understand that these are both my fault: I need to get in position somehow to make the call in (1), and I need to pick up the ball in (2). I called both 'foul', but I like the idea of calling it fair when the batter "beats" the pitcher.

There was quite a bit of crying in (1), as I guess the ball landed on the line. In (2) only the 3B coach cried, which means either that the ball was foul or that nobody else could see it either!