Batter Interference?

[MT 73]

Originally Posted by teebob21

That is not a judgment call; it is a misapplication of the rule. USA 8.2-F(4): The batter-runner is out when the batter-runner interferes by making contact with a fair batted ball before reaching first base.

Calling this a foul ball is inviting a protest. A ball that stops (settles) over fair territory is, by definition, fair. Any contact with the ball by the BR is an out, batter's boxes or not.

The definition of a foul ball (subsection F) requires that the batted ball touches the batter or the bat a second time. A stationary ball can't make contact with anything. As has been posted previously, the judgment on this play is did the ball hit the player (ball>>>player) or did the player hit the ball (player>>>ball). Other sports have the word "impetus" in their rulebook verbiage. That concept applies here as well, just as it does in a batted ball being hit a second time.

If I judge the stationary ball to be foul before it is touched then it is foul.
Then again usually things happen so fast that it is hardly ever a stationary ball that is struck by the batter but is a bang-bang situation.
In any case calling a ball foul is something that cannot be protested