need a ruling

[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by Bfair
If I have dugout with a ledge and the team places their cooler on the ledge (I don't care if it's the offense or defense) which is later struck by a thrown ball, it seems obvious to me that the ball would have entered the dugout had it not struck the cooler. Same if a glove is placed on the ledge, or if a player is sitting on the ledge. If these factors now start extending outward from the dugout into the playing field, it now becomes my judgment as to what I consider obvious or not.

Ummmm, the cooler on the ledge is inside the dugout, and therefore in dead ball territory. The same with a glove or a player on the ledge. They are all in dead ball territory. That's why it would be a dead ball if it hit them. Only the facing of the ledge is live ball territory, unless your ground rules were created by boobs.

So, where does this end for you Steve? If the ball rolls into a weighted bat sitting in the on-deck circle, and the ball would've entered dead ball territory had it not struck the weighted bat, are you calling it a dead ball?

If you allow objects in live ball territory, then they are live ball objects. No, a ball bucket doesn't have any business being out of the dugout. But if it is, and the ball strikes it, play on my friend, play on. I need a definitive ruling to believe otherwise.