[EsqUmp]

IS THE BALL LIVE OR DEAD? Who Decides?

Many of you have probably already read articles in previous issues of Referee Magazine regarding liability and enforcement of rules. When umpires stray from the rulebook, they run the risk of facing undesirable situations both on the field and in the courtroom. While umpires must establish dead ball boundaries during ground rules, umpires are not permitted to create ground rules that contradict clearly established guidelines in the rulebook.

While most college fields are well enclosed and pose few dead ball boundary issues, many fields that are used for recreational and travel games are another story. Because of the inconsistencies among fields, umpires should walk the perimeter of the fence when they have not previously worked on an individual field. I have worked on countless fields whose dead ball boundaries are either the spot where the cut grass meets the uncut grass, where the shrubbery begins, or where the field slopes up or down hill. Many fields also have ragged fences that are not flush to the ground, which creates an even more difficult situation.

The umpires should award a ground rule double when a fair-batted ball bounces over, rolls under or goes through a fence or any designated boundary of the playing field. Likewise, if the ball gets lodged in fence, the umpires should award a ground rule double. Let’s use the example of a ball that gets stuck in the gap between the bottom of the outfield fence and the ground. Provided the ball has not rolled completely passed the fence, if the outfielder is able to cleanly pick the ball up, the ball should remain in play. On the other hand, if the outfielder has to pry the ball from the fence, the ball is dead.

How many of you who have encountered similar field conditions have either stated yourself or heard another umpire say during ground rules, “If the ball goes out of play, put your hands up; but if you go in after the ball, the ball is live and the runners can keep running?” Most umpires say this probably because they heard another umpire say it and it sounded good. The problem is that it is in contradiction to the rules book, and is, thus, wrong!

Consider play #1: R1, the team’s fastest runner, is the winning run on first base. B1 hits the ball to the outfield, and it appears to get lodged in the fence. F9 raises her hands, followed by the umpires raising their hands. Seeing the outfielder and umpires raise their hands, the base coaches hold R1 at third base and B1 at second base. The base umpire then goes out to the fence and picks the ball up with no problem. It turns out, the ball was never out of play. Now what do you do? The outfielder thought the ball was out of play, but it wasn’t. The umpires subsequently have called a dead ball. Perhaps F9 raised her hands because she knew that R1 would score the winning run and she had no chance of throwing R1 out at the plate. Now what do you do?

Consider play #2: In the bottom of the seventh inning, R2, the team’s slowest runner, is the tying run on second base with two outs. The defensive coach is screaming to her players, “The runner on second can’t score. If she scores, we lose.” B1 hits the ball to the outfield, and it appears to get lodged in the fence. This time, the ball is truly lodged in the fence. Knowing that the game is in her hands, F9 pries the ball out from under the fence, and in the process cuts herself on the fence. Then, F9 throws out R2 by an eyelash at the plate. The offensive team, who just lost, is going to argue that the ball was out of play and the umpires should have declared a ground rule double; thus, the game would be tied and the winning runner would be on second base. The defensive team is going to argue, “No, the umpire said in ground rules ‘If you go in after the ball, the ball is live and the runners can keep running?” Now what do you do?

Believe it or not, the mechanics and the enforcement of the rules pertaining to this play are not difficult. If the base umpire believes that there may be a problematic situation with the status of the ball near the fence, he must go out and observe what happens. The base umpire will then be able to determine if the ball went beyond the fence or got lodged under it. If the ball didn’t do so, the umpire will know by the outfielder being able to cleanly pick the ball up.

Generally speaking, in these types of plays, it is the actual location of the ball that matters, and not what the defense elects to do with it. Once the ball is dead, it’s dead! The subsequent actions of the defense do not make the ball live again. Umpires must avoid coaching players. This includes instructing them to put their hands up, continue playing the ball, or stop running. No umpire should ever here a player say, “Well, I did it because the umpire told me to.” Umpires officiate the game, coaches instruct their players.