fair pole

Originally Posted by Dakota

So, you're saying it could hit the pole 10 feet above the ground and we can declare it a double?

No, because the ball is in play. I guess I should explain...our UIC told us if we work on a field that has no outfield boundary, e.g. no fence or chalk line, the ball is in play all the way out to the next town if need be. Question was asked if the ball went off the pole, can that be an exception. He said it's still live, unless it goes past the side fence extended, then it would be out of play and then ball out of play effects would come in.

The rule you cited, 8-5-I, can only be effective IF there is some kind of boundary, whether a fence or a chalk line. The foul pole CANNOT become an imaginary boundary for this purpose, because it would be chaotic if one umpire says it hit the pole at 6 feet therefore homerun while another would leave the ball in play and not say anything. There has to be some kind of tangible, visible boundary marker. Our UIC has hammered on this several times. He was challenged with 8-5-I, and responded that due to a lack of a visible boundary, the ball stays in play. He said he keeps bringing this up at NUS (just for the kicks and to see what responses he gets from the National staff) and every time, he gets the same response that he's been telling us all along.

Another justification we've had is that the foul poles aren't always set at the same distance from home on all of our fields without a fence. It depends on the configurations of the park, but most of the poles are 250-300 feet from home. If we were using a 250' fence and someone hit it off the fence, it wouldn't be a homerun because the rulebook says the fences need to be a minimum distance greater than that (I don't have my book with me here at work). So, you can see why the foul poles are in play when there is a lack of a visual, tangible boundary marker.