Two years ago, ASA released a clarification that talked about a fielder kicking a batted ball into the dugout. The ruling they gave was that kicking the ball is essentially the same as throwing it, and the bases awarded would be governed by the positions of the runners at the time of the kick and not the time of the pitch.
The way it was explained (at least here) was that it was the fielder that provided the impetus for the ball exiting the field of play. I'm in full agreement with that.
A couple of years ago, ASA added the following rule:
Quote:
ASA 8-5-I: When a fair batted ball:
Hits the fence and then deflects off of the defensive player and goes over the home run fence.
EFFECT: The ball is dead, and all runners are awarded two bases from the time of the pitch.
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If the ball hits the fence and appears to come back into play and is subsequently deflected by the fielder, would that not be another case of the fielder "providing the impetus?"
What if the fielder was swinging his/her arm in an effort to retrieve the ball, and they accidentally knock it over the fence with their glove?
What if, for whatever reason, they do this intentionally?
Tossing this out there...