Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Reed
Before, the NCAA rule was "passed all infielders, other than the pitcher". That allows one to apply the string interpretation of what constitutes "passed".
Now it is "passed all infielders who have a chance to make a play on the ball, other than the pitcher. " One can't apply a string interpretation given this wording.
How is the new rule different from the following MLBUM interp?
"(unless) The ball has passed through or by an infielder (i.e., through the infielder's legs or past the reach of the infielder attempting to field the ball AND no other infielder has a chance to make a play on the ball."
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NCAA and FED use "passed" to mean "farther than"; OBR further restricts it to "through or immediately by" -- a "near miss" if you will.
The examples given in the NCAA conferences over the past two years have made it clear, at least to me, that they have moved from the OBR interp to the FED interp, and that this is what they were trying to convey with the wording change.