Quote:
Originally Posted by MD Longhorn
Of course... but your assumption that land means hits the ground is simply incorrect. Look in several of the other definitions. Foul ball (includes  - "a batted ball that ... is touched ... over foul territory"; and "a batted ball that, while over foul territory, touches (several things)"; and "a batted ball that touches the batter or the bat in the batter's hands a second time" ... all of these balls which have not yet touched the ground are a subset of "batted balls".
Fair ball includes several more examples just like this. If "a batted ball" did not include balls that touched something before hitting the ground (or never hit the ground), a great number of definitions would need twice as many subsets to cover the "non-batted ball" (one that has not yet hit the ground).
Obviously, a ball that is in the air is nothing ... yet... but once it hits ANYTHING (including the catcher's glove or equipment!), it has "landed". |
By that kind of reasoning there could be no mistakes in the rule book. If the definition of batted ball were a ball which has alighted on the ground, you could argue that since a fair ball is so if it's touched and it's a subset of batted balls that alighted on the ground has to mean touched. But land and alighted on the ground are synonyms (excluding landing on another surface).
But even if you disregard that. There are plenty of rules about fielding a batted ball, (not a ball which will be batted once you field it, but a batted ball) are rules about fielding a batted ball really only for balls that have already been touched?