Foul or Out?

[BretMan]

This is a question that's been debated numerous times on this, and other forums (and, I suspect, in clinics, classrooms and on the field).

And I've heard a lot of different good, well-thought out explanations that make sense. One problem is that some of those explanations don't jibe with some of the other ones. The bigger problem is that the precise definition of a batter-runner being "out of the box" on this play isn't presented in the rule book or interpretive literature. That leaves this call up to the interpretation of the individual umpire calling the play and that leads to an unevenly enforced rule and...confusion!

Some theories I've seen:

- If the B/R has one foot on the ground entirely out of the box, then she is out of the box.

- The B/R needs to have both feet out of the box before she is considered to be out of the box.

- If the batted ball hits the B/R over the area of the batter's box, it doesn't matter where her feet are. Consider that as being hit while in the box.

- The umpire should give the benefit of the doubt to the B/R. So long as the contact is made on the B/R's initial step from the box, and the contact is not judged to be intentional, rule this a foul ball.

All good theories that can be backed-up by various rules, interpretations, sound logic or even leaps in logic. But they obviously can't all be correct.

Going off on a bit of a tangent here...In 2010 the Official Baseball Rules finally- after a hundred years!- saw fit to better define this play. They crafted a rule change that says a batter hit by his own fair batted ball while not in his "legal position" is out. They go on to explain that, for the purpose of this rule, his "legal position" is both feet entirely within the batter's box. (Their previous rules didn't define this, but umpires were instructed to rule as in my fourth example above- give the B/R the benefit of the doubt and call it foul).

This isn't to suggest that the softball world should by default accept the OBR ruling, or that their way is the right way, or the only way to handle this. But I offer this example to show that even a stodgy institution resistant to change can recognize that this play needs to be better defined and can adopt some sort of rule to define it. It would be nice to see some of the softball organizations recognize the same need and incorporate a clear definition into their rules.