Quote:
Originally Posted by Manny A
I thought Rules Supplement #24, where it says, "If, when the bat contacts the ball a batter’s entire foot is completely outside the batter’s box, the batter is out," would call for an Out in that case. The original scenario has the batter (I assume) still in the batter's box.
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There seems to be a contradiction because page 243 says the following....
Hitting the ball a second time....
"While making the dead ball call, review in your mind what you just saw. Then, ask yourself the question, did the second hit occur in fair or foul territory? If the answer is foul territory, the ball is foul and a strike is called on the batter. If the ball is fair, the next question you need to ask is whether the batter was in or out of the batter's box. If they were in the box, it is a foul ball and a strike is called on the batter. If the second hit occurred out of the batter's box, the batter is out."
Is there a distinction to be made between the ball hitting the bat a second time and the batter hitting the ball a second time? Do we need to be concerned with which object, the bat (and thereby the batter) or the ball initiated the contact. It appears the only time we get an out on the batter for contacting a ball is when it is a fair ball and they are out of the box. I believe RS #24 is referring to a fair ball.
Of course further down on page 243 we have these words....
Batted Ball off of a batters' foot:
2. When the batter is out of the batter's box:
b. Point to the play, give an out signal and verbalize "batter is out"
I am assuming that this is not from the initial contact. I am assuming that this is after the batter starts to run. I'm thinking this does not apply to the common scenario where the batted ball goes directly down and hits the batters foot. If the foot was out of the box at the time of contact the batter is out regardless if it hits their foot. Also, if the batter is running and it hits their foot in foul territory, I have a foul ball not a batter being out.
So a batted ball that hits the batters foot would have to hit the batters foot in fair territory for it to be an out. Also, if the batter is in the box and the ball is fair and they make contact with the ball, they are out.
The batter's box does not give them the right to come in contact with a fair batted ball.