Not only are the hands part of the bat . . .

[greymule]

Where was the TD? At the snack bar?

Were you there, bluezebra? How did you know that that's exactly where he was? And the snack bar is built into the backstop. In other words, the TD was 75 feet from the call.

However, the other posters are correct that the TD would not be called in to rule on such a play, and nobody suggested that. Since the play was entirely correctable (FOUL!), the ump could have checked with the BU or any of several other umps hanging around.

Perhaps this odd ruling stuck because after an initial squawk, the defense just let it go. Most people at the field were not aware of the details of the dispute. Of course, even if the ump thought the ball hit the runner in fair territory, F5 was playing way back, so since the runner was in contact with the base, the ball should have been ruled dead.