Quote:
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Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
Not if the fielder was playing a batted ball and was, in the umpire's judgment, the defender most likely to field the ball.
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Thank you, Mike. Is "[standing] in foul ground waiting to pick it up" considered "in the act of fielding a batted ball?" IOW, it does not matter if she is "actively" fielding or just standing there waiting to see whether it rolls foul, it is definitionally "in the act of fielding a batted ball" and therefore affords her the protection of the exception to the OBS definition?
In the OP it sounds as if the BR could have avoided contact easily since F3 was in foul territory; would the ruling be the same if the F3 were standing across most or all of the running lane (and just looking at the ball to see whether it was going to roll foul or not)? I am guessing if the answer to my question above is yes, then it would not matter where the defender is standing, she is still protected/exempted from committing OBS by definition? And in this case, the BR would be able to run more than 3' from the base path to avoid contact with F3 because it would not be done to avoid a tag?
If I am lucky, I will just begin to master all the rules by the time my DD stops playing, but I appreciate all the knowledge I get here.