Little Ball Indecision

[IRISHMAFIA]

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200807043063315

The comments below are of the possibility in the play above that the ball remains perched and never drops off the top of the fence.

"That ball is live, so if that ball had stayed on top of the fence, it would be have been interesting," umpire crew chief Wally Bell said. "We're going to have to find out exactly what the ruling would be on that."

Even Mike Port, Major League Baseball's vice president of umpiring, wasn't positive.

"The guess is that if it had stayed there, it would have been a home run because it had broken the front plane, but we'll discuss it with supervisors in the next few days," he said. "The great thing about this game is that after 100 or more years, you still see things that may not have happened before."

Here we have a crew chief and the VP of umpiring not knowing what to do in a game situation. To me, any umpire with the slightest sense of the rules should be able to handle this call.

I cannot find anything in MLB rules to support ruling this as a home run. I believe the crew chief is correct, this is a live ball.

Speaking ASA, if this ball stays on top of the fence, it is live and in play.

Any other opinions?

[NDblue]

It's live and in play until when? Not at any softball field I know of but in baseball, there are some fences/walls that would be out of reach for a player to get to if said ball were perched on top. Then what?

[Dholloway1962]

I'm going with the ground rule double...same as ball lodging in fence.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by NDblue

It's live and in play until when? Not at any softball field I know of but in baseball, there are some fences/walls that would be out of reach for a player to get to if said ball were perched on top. Then what?

To me, a ball is live until it becomes dead by rule.

What do you have in this play? Obviously, the players could have reached the ball. Even if the ball would be out of reach, why penalize the offense because the defence missed an opportunity to make the play?

[3SPORT]

The only way this should be a live ball is if there is no way it can become dead. By being able to be knocked off the ledge and go dead then you will have the same effect as a ground rule double or being stuck in a fence.

[NDblue]

Perched on top of a fence/wall, I'd almost have to rule it a home run. As was stated earlier, if it's on top of the fence it has broken the plane of the front edge of the fence. Isn't that by definition a home run?

[NCASAUmp]

If the ball hits the top of the fence untouched, then goes over, it's a home run. In this case, if the ball is touched, rests on the fence, then goes over, it's a 4 base award, and doesn't count against the maximum number of home runs hit by that team.

This case would be a live ball. If the players can't knock it down, I've got a blocked ball (it would be no different if the ball were stuck at the bottom of the fence or a hole in the middle of the fence). If players knock it down and it falls into playable territory, the ball's still live. If players knock it down, and it falls behind the fence into dead ball territory, I've got a 4 base award (if it was touched by a fielder) or a home run (if it was never touched by a fielder).

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by NDblue

Perched on top of a fence/wall, I'd almost have to rule it a home run. As was stated earlier, if it's on top of the fence it has broken the plane of the front edge of the fence. Isn't that by definition a home run?

One other thing... If a ball were to break the plane of the front edge of the fence as you described, but the fielder reached over the fence and caught it before it came into contact with dead ball territory, would you still rule it a home run?

[MichaelVA2000]

Originally Posted by NDblue

Perched on top of a fence/wall, I'd almost have to rule it a home run. As was stated earlier, if it's on top of the fence it has broken the plane of the front edge of the fence. Isn't that by definition a home run?

No. Not any different than if the ball had hit the top of the fence and bounced directly back onto the field of play. Live ball, play on. Had the ball hit the top of the fence and then bounced over, it would have been a four base award.

[Welpe]

It happened again yesterday but this time, it looks like the ball would've stayed on the fence if the F7 hadn't knocked it off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjdPJsc8dLg