booted call - what to do

[hardball3b]

4 man crew - 2 outs, runner on third, batter hits ball down third base line, ball hits back corner of bag and third base ump signals and verbally says "foul!". Batter runner end up at 2nd, runner at third crosses plate. Defense "gives up" on ball when it was announced foul. Do you correct the call and keep everyone where the ended up; put everyone back where they were, or what?

[Atl Blue]

You don't say what rules.

In FED, it is foul. Doesn't matter if it was a booted call or not, once a ground ball was called foul, it was dead. Put the runner back on third and the batter back at the plate.

In OBR, good luck. It's about to be a UGLY day.

[brost]

As soon as you call it Foul, it's a dead ball and you can't 'bring it back to life'. So generally when in doubt, wait until you call foul because it is much easier to call foul late and send runners back than to deal with the situation described above.

The only two things you can do is to:
a) lie to the coach "skip, i clearly saw the ball touch the ground right behind the bag without touching the bag"
b) pray and hope

On a close one you might get away with a) which has the advantage that the game cannot be protested.

[Atl Blue]

As soon as you call it Foul, it's a dead ball and you can't 'bring it back to life'.

Yes, it's dead, but the call can, in OBR, in rare instances, be reversed to "Fair Ball". Obviously, this creates a multitude of problems and should be avoided at all costs.

[DownTownTonyBrown]

Originally posted by Atl Blue
As soon as you call it Foul, it's a dead ball and you can't 'bring it back to life'.

Yes, it's dead, but the call can, in OBR, in rare instances, be reversed to "Fair Ball". Obviously, this creates a multitude of problems and should be avoided at all costs.

Atlanta, How? How can you bring a dead ball back to life/live?

Hardball3B (your 1st post), can I assume from your monicker that it was you that made the call? ... and perhaps, that you are not truly a newby here?

[Atl Blue]

I never said you could bring it back to life (although there is even an instance where that can happen as well in OBR). What I said is that the ball can be changed to fair.

Example: Ball goes over the outfield fence, U1 calls it foul. Umpires huddle and reverse the call. The ball is now fair. It did not come back to life.

Example: Ball rolls down the third base line. Defense lets it roll, hoping it will go foul, as they have no play on the BR. Before it reaches the base, PU calls it foul. No one touches the ball, the ball rolls forward and touches 3B. The BR had reached 1B prior to the call of foul, and prior to the ball hitting the bag. The PU, realizing his mistake, now corrects his call to fair. Since no one relied on his call, and the call of foul did not change the play, it is a call that could be reversed. Note, the change does not make the ball live again, it merely makes it a fair ball instead of a foul ball as originally called.

The examples where a call of foul that can be changed to fair are few and far between, but in OBR, they do exist. FED has changed their rule and made a call of foul on any non-airborne ball a final call of foul.

As for the one case where a called foul ball can be made live (and fair) again: Line drive down the third base line, PU mistakenly calls the ball foul, but no one reacts or relies upon the call. The PU may reverse the call to fair since no one relied or acted on his call. Note, I have NEVER done this, NEVER seen it, and certainly recommend that no one I know or work with try it. It is a recipe for disaster.

But it can be done.

[hardball3b]

Nope. I did not make the call on this one. Been at it for 9 years, BUT, I did make the correct decision to put everyone back and yes, it was ugly. Three ejections. The guy wo do make the call - 2nd year. I brought the incident up from the standpoint of "getting it right" Regardless of the booted call, the R3 would have scored and the BR would have made 2nd - other than him falling flat on his face. My knowledge said "put 'em back" but my sense of fair play said "give it to the offense".