Day 2...

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Can a fielder reacquire protection if he is in the act of fielding his own previously deflected ball? The play I'm thinking of is the NCAA play from last year where the pitcher deflected it off his foot, chased it and was in the act of fielding it when the BR ran into him near the first baseline.

After much kerfluffle, the NCAA ruling is that if a *DIFFERENT* fielder is chasing after the ball and is in the act of fielding it, then that second fielder is protected. The first fielder cannot re-gain protection.

When Drake's board was active, many (most? all?) of the active MiLB umpires said that they would allow the original fielder to "regain" protection. I'm not sure I buy that.