Quote:
Originally posted by greymule
I see that I missed that Situation 13 referred to a runner ON THE BAG. Sorry.
Regardless, the second part of Situation 13 still conflicts with BRD Play 115-298. Both consider (1) a runner in contact with a base, (2) the runner unintentionally hit by a batted ball, (3) the defense playing back, and (4) no infielder in position to make a play. Situation 13 says the runner is NOT out, while BRD 115-298 says he IS out.
Carl Childress quotes a post from eTeamz: "The FED has always held that the base protects a runner if the defense is playing behind a line drawn in front of the base. See 8.4.2H and I for further information." Carl's own BRD, however, says, "[In FED,] the base protects a runner only when he is hit by a declared infield fly." I think the BRD is correct.
And 8.4.2I says, "With R1 on second, B2 hits toward second. The batted ball hits R1 while he is standing on the bag or while he is on his way to third. F4 and F6 (a) are playing deep behind the baseline or (b) F6 is playing on front of the baseline. RULING: In (a), the ball is dead immediately. R1 is out and B2 is awarded first base. In (b), the touching is ignored unless it is ruled intentional, and the ball remains alive because no other fielder had a chance to make a play on the batted ball."
So 8.4.2I says the base DOES NOT protect the runner with the defense playing behind the line. And its example includes runner both on and off the bag as if to say there's no distinction.
Situation 13 is the only citation I have ever seen that says that a FED runner is protected while in contact with a base. I cannot find anything in the rule book that says the base is a sanctuary under any circumstances except infield fly. Still, I would like to know definitively that Situation 13 is incorrect when it says the ball would remain live if no fielder had a chance to play the ball.
F6 playing directly behind 2B may be fourth-world, but F3 playing a few feet behind 1B is a common sight. Three years ago, I did see a runner hit by line drive while in contact with 1B, and F3, playing behind the runner definitely had a play. The umps (not I) called him out.
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Greymule:
Thanks for pointing out my mistake here. I meant to type playing in front of the line. That's what I mean when I say the FED ruling matches the Brinkman ruling. In my haste I simply reversed the prepositional meaning.
The BRD is correct: If the fielders are IN FRONT OF THE LINE, the base protects them because the ball has "passed" an infielder.
Situation 13 clarifies that if a fielder is not in a position to make a play, the runner is NOT out, even when he is behind the line when the runner would ordinarily be out:
SITUATION 13: With the shortstop playing behind second base and in a position to make a catch, the runner standing on second base is hit by a line drive. RULING: The ball is dead and the runner on second base is declared out. The batter-runner is awarded first base. If no infielder had been in a position to make a play, the ball would remain live, provided the runner did not intentionally allow himself to be hit by the batted ball. (5-1-1f1, 8-4-2k, 6-1-5)
I must admit that on closer examination, this is a significant expansion of the FED definition of "passing an infielder."
In effect: FED has now distanced themselves completely from NCAA and OBR:
NCAA/OBR: If the fielder has no chance to field the ball, the runner is OUT.
He's only protected if the fielder had a "reasonable chance" (NCAA) or the ball passed "within arm's reach" (OBR).
FED: If the fielder had no chance to field the ball, the runner is NOT OUT.
If no infielder is in position to make a play, the ball remains alive when the runner on base is hit.
One would assume that ruling would apply to runners not on the base as well.
Thanks for taking time to draw my attention again to this play.