Dead Ball or not

[w_sohl]

For those of you that have viewed my "Balk, Ball or nothing" thread, this is the same partner same game.

Towering foul ball down 3B side. Field has a line drawn from the back of the dugout to the outfield fence indicating DB territory. Player runs over to field ball, moves into DBT, realizes that he is in DBT and retreats into LBT. Makes the catch with the ball over DBT. My partner ruled that the ball was dead because he thought the player could not reenter LBT. Now I know a player can have one foot in DBT and one in LBT and still make a legal catch of a ball over DBT. But in this scenario, was this still a legal catch with the player entering DBT and retreating to LBT before the ball was touched or the catch was made and completing all actions in LBT?

[scyguy]

Determing whether it is a legal catch has to do with where the defensive player is when contact is made with the ball. What he does prior to the contact is not an issue. If he had one foot in LBT when the catch was made, then we have a legal catch. The only FED reference I have, however, deals with when it is a catch (2-9-1) or when it becomes dead (5-1-1i).

[w_sohl]

Sounds like what we had was a legal catch then, that is what I thought. He had the play the whole way though so he took the call and there was no way I could have ruled because I was obstructed by the dugout.

[mcrowder]

When the bizarre happens, and someone wants to make a call that seems common-sensical to them, it is always a good idea to think - "Is there a rule that tells me to do what I'm doing?" In this case, there is no rule that says anything about what a fielder may or may not do before catching a ball (I suppose one exists - he can't throw equipment at the ball and hit it). With no rule-basis for saying the fielder can't leave and come back, you have to rule this catch legal.

[largeone59]

This is not football! W, your play would have been a good catch.