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Originally Posted by soundedlikeastrike
A FOUL BALL is a batted ball that settles on foul territory between home and first base, or between home and third base, or that bounds past first or third base on or over foul territory, or that first falls on foul territory beyond first or third base, or that, while on or over foul territory, touches the person of an umpire or player, or any object foreign to the natural ground.
IMO: The ball is not foul, this ball did not touch anything, it was "touched intentionally" by an offensive player.
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I won't argue with the rest of your mess ... but this statement is downright asinine. The ball IS foul - it touched the offensive player. By your inference, since when the offense touched the ball intentionally, it still hadn't touched anything ... then if the runner had not caught it, but instead intentionally deflected it INTO fair ground ... then you must have a fair ball ... after all - the ball didn't touch anything in foul ground, right?
Another extension of your asinine statement --- the rule simply says player, it doesn't say which team. So if the intentional touching of a ball over foul ground by the offense doesn't make the ball foul ... well ... then the intentional touching of that same ball by the DEFENSE must not make it foul either.
Just ridiculous. The instigator of the contact with the ball is irrelevant - the instant it is touched by ANY player (whether intentional or not ... whether offense or defense) over foul ground, it becomes a foul ball.