The Official Forum  

Go Back   The Official Forum > Baseball

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Wed May 09, 2012, 01:47pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 6
Power lines over the field in live ball territory

Power lines are over the field starting out over foul territory running over to fair territory then they are out of play. Can a batted ball be caught for an out after striking the power lines? Similar situation in that you have tree limbs hanging over the outfield fence can a batted ball be caught for an out after striking the tree limbs?
__________________
Don't CALL everything you see but SEE everything you call.
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old Wed May 09, 2012, 01:53pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 480
Under what rule set is this game being played?
Are these power lines addressed in the field's ground rules?
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old Wed May 09, 2012, 01:56pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 6
power lines

Nfhs
__________________
Don't CALL everything you see but SEE everything you call.
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old Wed May 09, 2012, 02:48pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: CT
Posts: 2,439
Quote:
Originally Posted by metroump9 View Post
Nfhs
Fine, NHFS rules but this is one of the reasons for having ground rules! When objects protrude onto/over, transverse or lay (unable to be moved) on the field, they need to be addressed before the game starts.

Normally the HC will give you the ground rule for these problems but sometimes, you have to come up with the answer yourself. This is why, if you've never been to this field, you and your partner should walk the field and note the problems. Of course, this means that you have to arrive earlier than 5 minutes before the game (as many umpires do).

To answer your question, I work on 2 different fields (different towns). The tree limbs in play on one field but not on the other. This is always discussed at the plate meeting on these fields. I also deal with a field that has a tarp rolled up in the foul ball area just beyond the 3rd base dugout. This is out of play as per the field's ground rules.
__________________
When in doubt, bang 'em out!
Ozzy
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old Wed May 09, 2012, 08:10pm
DG DG is offline
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 4,022
Two fields in my area always generated discussion at pre-season meetings. One has a power line overhanging LF by about 3 feet. But to hit that line you would have to hit a homer that would have travelled 400'. The HC would always say something about it at pregame but it was never considered a HR to hit that line since by FED rules a ball had to go over a fence.

The other had a pole just inside the outfield fence with a white circle drawn around it about fence height. The HC would always try to say that a ball hitting that pole above the line was a HR, which would always generate discussion since ground rules are not supposed to supersede rules and the rule said the ball had to go over a fence.

I always thought both were just silly, but never had to rule on either.

The second example finally went out and made a half-circle around the pole with their fence. The first one still exists.
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old Wed May 09, 2012, 11:15pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,772
Quote:
Originally Posted by metroump9 View Post
Power lines are over the field starting out over foul territory running over to fair territory then they are out of play. Can a batted ball be caught for an out after striking the power lines? Similar situation in that you have tree limbs hanging over the outfield fence can a batted ball be caught for an out after striking the tree limbs?
Couple of fields in our area have similar situations; however, these are addressed before the game.

In none of these is an out possible one it hits either the lines or the trees. One field says if it is caught its a double, the other says once it hits the line play on.

Thanks
David
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old Thu May 10, 2012, 01:51pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 152
One of our high schools has this situation. The ground rules have always been as such:

For the wire overhead behind home plate, if it hits it, it's an immediate dead ball, and foul.

For the wires in both right and left field that cross from foul to fair moving away from the plate, it's always described as this: "Umpire will call fair or foul based on the striking point of the ball. The ball can be caught for an out, otherwise it's a live ball unless foul."

It is played this way whether in HS Fed ball, or American Legion games.
__________________
Never argue with idiots...they drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old Fri May 11, 2012, 12:38pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 727
Quote:
Originally Posted by scarolinablue View Post
One of our high schools has this situation. The ground rules have always been as such:

For the wire overhead behind home plate, if it hits it, it's an immediate dead ball, and foul.

For the wires in both right and left field that cross from foul to fair moving away from the plate, it's always described as this: "Umpire will call fair or foul based on the striking point of the ball. The ball can be caught for an out, otherwise it's a live ball unless foul."

It is played this way whether in HS Fed ball, or American Legion games.
Several fields in my are have the same situation as SCblue described. The ground rules used is the power line overhead at the plate is automatically dead and ruled foul. The lines in left and right field are live and in play. If the ball lands or is first touched by the defense in fair territory, it is fair, and if the ball lands or is first touched by the defense in foul territory, it is foul.
__________________
"Not all heroes have time to pose for sculptors...some still have papers to grade."
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Handling the ball in dead ball territory NCASAUmp Softball 12 Wed Apr 21, 2010 11:56am
Ball thrown into Dead ball territory MASS F/B UMP Softball 11 Mon May 04, 2009 11:32am
Coaches on field- live ball foul? bossman72 Football 6 Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:34pm
Wiping out field lines Bluefoot Softball 17 Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:14pm
dead ball territory ggk Baseball 6 Fri Dec 30, 2005 08:47pm


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:43am.



Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0 RC1