fair/foul

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by jicecone

Bullcrap, call what you think you see and live up to it like Davidson did. I am all for getting it right but, this is one where you have step up to the plate and do your job PERIOD

Bob Davidson is the same guy who took back Big Mac's 66th home run because he thought a fan reached over the fence, when the fans were three feet behind the fence restrained by a railing. So, he occasionally calls what he thinks he sees. The foul call was gutsy, irrespective of whether it was right, just like the home run call.

This topic is primarily about this call, but it is really about the average baseball observer's ignorance to the rules. It's a good thing that we have guys like Bob Davidson willing to make highly improbable calls like this so that more people can learn the rules. So if the ball had really snaked like that, and it was actually correct, then a lot of people now know that can happen and how it is ruled.

Very helpful, Bob.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by kylejt

I don't mean guessing in a bad way. It's an educated guess, based on year of experience. There's no way to know if the ball did or didn't go over the bag from where he was standing. He's backing away, sees the ball coming toward him, years of experience tells him it's going to continue to curl foul, and he makes the call. But yeah, it's a guess.

But from the video I've been watching, it bounced fair both before and after the bag. Simple geometry will tell you it passed over the bag, right? But given the same circumstance, I would have probably called it foul too.

I have played third base and I have umpired at third base and I have ample personal evidence that batted balls don't obey the laws of geometry.

P.S. And I have to tell you, an umpiring buddy of mine just beat me again at a post-game pool match by making the cue ball curve around my ball before it tapped the 8-ball into the corner pocket.

So I actually believe that the way the ball behaved on Bob Davidson's curious call is indeed possible.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by kylejt

There's no way to know if the ball did or didn't go over the bag from where he was standing.

Trust me, his angle and clarity of the play is much better than the angle and the grainy picture that has been replayed time and again.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Simple geometry will tell you it passed over the bag, right? But given the same circumstance, I would have probably called it foul too.

Watch the path of the ball after each bounce.

The ball, when it hits after the bag is a couple of inches inside the line in fair territory. The next bounce is a direct hit on the line in the outfield grass.

How'd that happen ? (hint....arcs are a part of geometry)

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by asdf

Watch the path of the ball after each bounce.

The ball, when it hits after the bag is a couple of inches inside the line in fair territory. The next bounce is a direct hit on the line in the outfield grass.

How'd that happen ? (hint....arcs are a part of geometry)

Kyle said he was employing simple geometry.

[Steven Tyler]

Originally Posted by asdf

Trust me, his angle and clarity of the play is much better than the angle and the grainy picture that has been replayed time and again.

Davidson butchered the call. It doesn't matter how good of an angle or clarity of the play he had.

[UmpJM]

Hmmmm....

What has been interesting to me about this thread is that it has clearly demonstrated that some people understand neither how to properly adjudicate the rules of baseball regarding fair/foul nor the limitations of video replay, some understand one of those things but not the other, and some understand both.

JM

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by UmpJM (nee CoachJM)

Hmmmm....

What has been interesting to me about this thread is that it has clearly demonstrated that some people understand neither how to properly adjudicate the rules of baseball regarding fair/foul nor the limitations of video replay, some understand one of those things but not the other, and some understand both.

JM

Okay, now let's move this thread foward by identifying who belongs to each group.

[UmpJM]

MrUmpire,

Res Ipsa Loquitur.

JM

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by UmpJM (nee CoachJM)

MrUmpire,

Res Ipsa Loquitur.

JM

Only to those in the third category.