[greymule]

In ASA softball, even the leadoff batter of an inning can account for 3 outs, improper batter or not—if he hits a ball over the fence after his team has reached its home run limit. (This rule is popular with umpires.)

Explain please.

It used to be that excess (over-the-fence) home runs were just outs. Batter out, all runners return TOP.

I umpired many games in which teams would reach their home run limit in, say, the third inning but still be unable to keep the ball in the park. I remember when two big-time teams together hit 11 "outs" over the fence after they had reached their limit. The game ended 44-38.

I've seen teams that were trailing badly in the bottom of the seventh simply hit three blasts over the fence to get the game over with. (When those crusher teams are trying to hit the ball over the fence, the balls sometimes land 100 or more feet past the 300-foot fence.)

But a couple of years ago, ASA decided to increase the penalty such that not only was the batter out, but the half-inning ended at that point. If you have the bases loaded and no outs, and your batter hits one over the fence, it's 3 outs, 0 runs, and change sides.

Most rec leagues with home run limits still penalize with just the batter out, but in the official ASA tournaments, the immediate-three-outs rule applies.