Quote:
Originally posted by greymule
1-59 The ball goes directly from the bat, (a) touches the catcher's glove or hand and then rebounds from the catcher or his equipment, (b) from the bat, strikes the catcher's body, his protective equipment or the umpire. In both cases the ball rebounds into the glove or hand of the catcher and is held. Ruling: In (a) it is a foul tip and a strike, in (b) it is a foul ball. The ball cannot be a foul tip if it first touches anything other than the catcher's glove or hand.
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I have a question related to this statement: Why is situation
b a foul ball and not an out? I can understand that the ball cannot be caught for an out if it rebounds off of the umpire, but why not if off of the catcher's equipment? If a ball was hit and rebounded off of any other player and caught before it hit the ground, it would be considered an out. Why not in this specific situation? I just want to understand the reasoning behind the rule.