Can I fix this?
 

FED game. R2, 1 out. B1 hits a "blooper" down the left field line. As the ball falls into fair territory close to the line I have a brain fart and signal foul. As F7 picks up the ball and starts to throw home to try to get R2, I see that he is looking in my direction and does not throw. At this point I realize that I am pointing toward foul territory. R2 scores and B1 goes to second. The defensive coach comes out and wants me to do something about my mistake. He is telling me that his players can't be penalized for me making the wrong call. I told him that I had no way of knowing if the runner would have been thrown out at the plate. Could I have done something to fix this? The defensive team ended up losing the game in extra innings.

FED changed the rules a couple of years ago that if the UMP calles "foul ball" which you did by signaling, the ball is dead and it is a "do over".

Did you signal foul only or did you declare "foul!"?

It is foul
 

Tony:

The Oregon School Activities Association sent the NFHS a question this spring on this EXACT type play.

The NFHS answered by saying "a "point" is a declaration" and the ball is foul by the inadvertant signal.

Tim Christensen

Reference
 

I only signaled, but the coach's point was that F7 did not make the throw home because of my signal.

Can anyone give me a reference to explain this? I would like to apologize to the coach if I see him again. I would like for him to know what to do if this happens to him in the future.

This play sucks when it happens because your only response is "Coach, when I call it foul, it's foul and I have to eat it. There's nothing I can do. Sorry."

2-foul ball; 5-immediate dead ball

Once you call it foul, the ball is dead. You just have to tell the coach you made a mistake and it's something we have to play over. It happens, we make mistakes too.

My 2008 rule book is in my bag at home, but I do have my 2007 case book at work and 2.16.1 Sit. A describes this play. Once the ball hits the ground, the ball is dead and the batter is charged with a strike.

Please show us this "do over" rule as in my 2008 FED book (and 2007 FED book) if the umpire calls "foul" it is a done deal and cannot be undone. I would really like to see this "change" you refer to.

[QUOTE]IN FED Foul is FOUL and CANNOT be reversed. The coach can "stand on his head" etc. but it's FOUL.

OBR - There is precedent set in OBR that would allow the call of Foul to be changed to fair IF the players DID NOT react to the call of Foul.

However, even in your OP the ball under all 3 codes would be FOUL because of As F7 picks up the ball and starts to throw home to try to get R2, I see that he is looking in my direction and does not throw. F7 REACTED to your call of Foul and thus made no attempt to try and get the runner.

In FED it's spelled out as Tee indicated. FOUL is FOUL.

In OBR under very mimimal circumstances you change the call to Fair.

It's one of those things we have to live with. We are human (at least i think we are) and most of us have had "brain farts" and it's part of the game. Live and learn but more importantly - Time to move on coach let's play.

Pete Booth

Tim:

Thanks. You saw where I was going with that. On this play circle the wagons.

Charlie, it is not a 'do over'; it's a foul ball. If the batter had a count of 1 strike on him he now has 2.

Fed. 5-1-1 h.

I am pretty sure the change was if you call a ball foul while it is still in the air and it is still caught, then you still have an out instead of a foul ball. I never remember hearing anything about a do over.

Where was he when he lost? :D

Announces
 

The way my partner bailed me out on this one is that I never said anything during the play. I simply pointed into foul territory. I read 5-1-1-h and it says the ball is dead when an umpire "inadvertently announces 'Foul' on a ball that touches the ground;" He said that since the players didn't hear a foul ball call, they should have continued playing. The coach said (and I agree with him) that his F7 saw the signal and declined to throw home and attempt to retire R2. I know I have screwed this one up, but I just don't know how I could have fixed it. His point was that if I inadvertently signaled out without verbalizing the call and then his runner left the base and was tagged, I would correct the situtation and put him back on base.

You can't fix it, you have to live with the foul call. It's the rule.

And, in FED at least, it doesn't matter whether you "verbalized" the call. Your signal was sufficient to invoke FED's "erroneous foul call" rule.

Yup. I was the idiot that did this SAME EXACT THING, except that I quickly reversed my point to fair and my inadvertent point to foul did not effect play at all, that caused Tim to contact NFHS.

I looked like I was doing some Egyptian dance or something. :o