foul tip / foul ball

[greymule]

You're right, Jim. "Over the head" is not in the baseball book, only softball. In fact, a batter could swing at a ball over his head and foul tip it, the catcher standing up and catching it 7' above the ground. We wouldn't call that an out.

However, in the standard case of a regular pitch that goes up off the bat, I've always used the "over the head" criterion and never had a problem (of course, that doesn't mean it's right). And anything fair cannot be a foul tip, obviously.

But philosophically, is it still a foul tip if it is slowed perceptibly by the bat? If it spins off to the side or slightly up? Can a bunt that spins up 4" and hits the catcher in the mask still be caught for an out? If it is slowed quite perceptibly but doesn't rise at all and simply falls into the catcher's mitt?