[greymule]

From Evans: Professional Interpretation: [after a legal catch] . . .

The player may throw from a dead ball territory and complete a play provided he has not fallen in the dead ball territory (e.g., dugout, stands, photographers' pit).

From the BRD:

If a fielder after making a catch enters DBT, the ball remains alive unless the fielder falls down.

But:

If a fielder, in making a catch, enters a spectator area due to his momentum, the ball is dead and all runners are awarded one base, regardless of whether the fielder has fallen or remains standing.

(What if the fielder enters "stands" that are empty of "spectators"?)

Evans cites 1950 as the time the rule was established, but he does not mention the exception for the "spectator area" (mentioned in J/R and BRD), which I did remember as having come much later. But I can't find anything in any of the books about an uncaught batted ball. Every example of unintentional entering of DBT deals with "after a catch."

However, the BRD does mention intentional carrying into DBT of merely a "batted ball" as causing a two-base award (from time of entering DBT). If unintentional carrying was the same two-base award, would that not be included in that section?