Quote:
Originally Posted by Spence
Field has a temporary fence in the outfield.
Hit ball goes "through" the fence or under the fence.
Outfielder raises hands to show the ball is no longer accessible.
Is this an automatic ground rule double?
I ask because someone told me they saw a game where the umpire awarded the batter 3rd base based on his belief that had it not gone through or under the fence that the batter would have ended up at 3rd.
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If the ball goes through or under the fence it's a two base award.
The outfielder raising his hands doesn't create the award or cause the ball to beciome dead. Only the umpire's judgement that it went through or under the fence counts.
If the umpire believes the ball stayed in the field of play then it's in play. Because of this, the runners should always keep going until the umpire calls time for the ball being out of play.
If it was out of play, they'll get sent to the proper base. If it's still in play they get what they get.
I don't know where the umpire was coming from on the award of third. Perhaps the runner went there and stopped on his own. If the ball was judged in play then that's where he gets to be.