Is this a catch?

[mcrowder]

Well, that sitch is slightly different. I (and the clinicians that day) admit that the rulebook is not 100% clear in its definitions. By the definitions listed above, if the player leans into DBT to catch a ball falls, and contacts DBT, it's pretty easy to justify calling this not a catch.

The scenario you describe does not fit the definition of a catch, and also doesn't fit the definition of a dead ball (in the case of foul ball territory.) It's grey area. One of those "rule on something not written in the rules" things that have never been fixed. Even the clinician most in favor of the Torii Hunter homer-saving catch being a homer (which, technically in NCAA rules, IS a homer, despite "custom") admitted that since the rules support nothing, and custom dictates an out, we should call this an out.

In case you missed earlier, I did mention that even though the homer-saving catch is technically a homer (see the part I posted about a 4-base award) - the consensus was that since it would be nearly impossible to be POSITIVE the ball was not initially contacted over LBT on a home run (maybe with a 6 man crew, a very high fly, and a very fast URF or ULF), the likely call is an out.

It's only the case where the player lands in DBT that it is CLEAR that we don't have a catch, by the definitions we are given.

The true culprit here is the definitions themselves not covering every possibility. Not the first time ever on that.