85% missed this one

[lawump]

85% of our membership missed this True/False question on the Fed Test:

If a fair batted ball is caught, a runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has been caught by a fielder.

The 85% said "true".

What do you all think?

[BigUmp56]

I think that if the question said "touched" instead of "caught, the answer would be true.

Tim.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by lawump

85% of our membership missed this True/False question on the Fed Test:

If a fair batted ball is caught, a runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has been caught by a fielder.

The 85% said "true".

What do you all think?

I agree with Tim on the answer.
I believe that the question is pure bull$hit for wording the way they did. It is not even a decent "trick question". I am getting tired of this kind of crap on FED tests. It's bad enough to "have to pass these test so you can work the season" but to have this bull$hit on the tests is becoming a joke. And there is no convincing me that this is a way to make you think - it's just bull$hit!

[UmpJM]

Got together on Monday evening this week with a couple of other guys from my association to review the FED test over a few cold ones.

I had false for this question & they both had true. After reading the rule book, they concurred that the correct answer was false.

Didn't strike me as a poor question.

JM

[ManInBlue]

I first thought "true" - but this is essentially the exact verbiage from the rule book with "touched" changed to "caught."

Didn't seem like a trick question to me. Simply testing the knowledge of the rules verbiage.

"If a fair or foul batted ball is caught, other than a foul tip, each base runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has been touched by a fielder." - my emphasis - Rule 8-2-4

[waltjp]

I agree with Tim and thought of touch vs. catch as soon as I read the question.

[dash_riprock]

This is not a trick question at all. It is a basic rule. It is not that uncommon to see a juggled catch, or even a touch by one fielder followed by a catch by another. 85% missing it doesn't speak well of the class.

[D-Man]

The whole test process is a joke. Take it closed book, with someone watching for cheats, and make the score count for something.

What, are we sad we didn't get 100?

D

[SAump]

To emphasize first touched by suggesting a ball that is juggled and then caught, or first touched and then caught by another player would be fair. This is a BS question because almost all fly balls are first touched immediately when caught. The two events occur simultaneously as suggested by 85% of the umpires. It appears that 15% of the readers failed to realize this possible scenario.

[UmpJM]

SAUmp,

Since part of the requirement for a legal catch is to demonstrate voluntary & intentional release, I would say that it is by definition impossible for the catch and the first touch to occur simultaneously.

JM

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

I agree with Tim on the answer.
I believe that the question is pure bull$hit for wording the way they did. It is not even a decent "trick question". I am getting tired of this kind of crap on FED tests. It's bad enough to "have to pass these test so you can work the season" but to have this bull$hit on the tests is becoming a joke. And there is no convincing me that this is a way to make you think - it's just bull$hit!

As I just said in the other thread, this question is straight from the rule book. How can you complain when the question is taken straight from the book?

The question and the book both say "batted ball is caught, a runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has _______ a fielder"

In the question the blank is "been caught by" and in the book it is "touched".

Now how is that a joke? Could the question be any more straightforward?

[Rita C]

Originally Posted by lawump

85% of our membership missed this True/False question on the Fed Test:

If a fair batted ball is caught, a runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has been caught by a fielder.

The 85% said "true".

What do you all think?

For my certification I took a class on how to write tests.

The worst kind of test for testing true knowledge is the true/false test.

This kind of question is why.

Rita

[fitump56]

Originally Posted by Rita C

For my certification I took a class on how to write tests.

The worst kind of test for testing true knowledge is the true/false test.

This kind of question is why.

Rita

True.

[Steven Tyler]

These are not questions. These are true/false statements. If they were questions they would have a question mark at the end of the sentence.

Jesus, Alou...........

[lawump]

As one member in our association argued in defense of his "true" answer (and he argued a lot more eloquently than I can write):

He said look at the meat of the question: "a runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has been caught by a fielder".

He said that is true.

When told by another association member that the answer is "false" because a runner must touch a base after the ball has been TOUCHED by a fielder, he said, "that's not what the question is asking. A runner does not have to re-touch his base after it is touched, he only has to re-touch if it is caught. Meaning, that if the ball is touched by a fielder and then dropped, the runner is not liable to be put out for failing to re-touch. It is the act of the fielder making a legal catch that imposes upon the runner the requirement to retouch his base.

"Thus, a runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has been caught by a fielder is true, because if the fielder does not catch the ball there cannot be a requirement to retouch, period."

However, I also see the other side. The question says "AFTER the batted ball has been caught..." and that IS false if you look at it from the point of view that the runner does not have to wait on the bag until, as JM points out, the fielder completes his catch with a voluntary release.

This is a BS question. As I said, 85% of our association got it wrong. Despite that, our association had the highest average grade of any association in the Palmetto State with an average score of 92 (we have 50+ members)...so, some of our guys know how to take this test (but apparently not this question).

Oh well.