Pitchers pitches the ball and cather cathes it in his glove, but near the end of the glove so that the ball pops out. When the ball pops out it hits the batters bat, probably on a check swing, and rolls foul. I am assuming that the ball is dead, but now that I think about it the ball can't be dead because then no one would be able to steal a base. What would the call be in this situation?

I would treat that the same way I would if it hit the batters leg or foot, providing he did nothing intentional. Live ball. G.

Recently, I had a pitch that did just that—out of the glove (on an attempted scoop) right to the bat, with a runner stealing 3B. The batter took the pitch all the way and was still holding the bat upright, with the hands lowered to the waist.

By instinct, I immediately called dead ball, but I blew it. I should have said nothing. Since the runner clearly had 3B stolen with the ball getting away, I let him stay at 3B. The defensive coach questioned it but didn't argue.

Had I called the ball dead with the runner not going, I could not have let him advance.

The points that you need to have clearly in your mind are:<ol><li>The moment the catcher deflects that pitched ball it is no longer a "pitched ball" but rather it becomes a "deflected ball". As such, OBR 5.09(a) no longer applies.<p><li>The moment the "pitched ball" became a "deflected ball" it could not subsequently become a "batted ball", either. As such, OBR 5.09(e) and OBR 2.00 Definition of a Foul Ball also no longer apply.</ol> With no other justification for declaring the ball dead under OBR 5.09, the ball remains alive and in play.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Riddle me this, riddle me that....
 

I liked how you reasoned that WW, im very impressed.

I have a question that has bugged me for a while, so I hope you guys can field an answer...

Pitcher pitches a ball and it hits the ground and/or plate and then hits the batter.

What happens? Assuming the Batter DID make an attempt to get out of the way...


Here is what I think...I think the batter would get 1st because he got hit by a pitch, just the same as a pitch that was "not in the STRIKE ZONE." Am I nuts here?

Re: Riddle me this, riddle me that....
 

Nope, you're not "nuts". You're spot on. HBP and awarded 1st base. Ball is dead.

Your answer is actually in black and white in the rules, but not <i>exactly</i> where you might look for it straight out. Check out OBR 2.00 Definition of A Ball. It covers the bouncing pitch that hits the batter and the bouncing pitch that gets nicked and gloved by the catcher. The latter case is NOT a catch for the purposes of OBR 6.05(c) and OBR 6.09(b).

Hope this helps

Cheers

[Edited by Warren Willson on Jul 9th, 2003 at 08:11 PM]