foul ball or strike out

[greymule]

I would agree, Sam. But there's this "not over the batter's head" clause in both the ASA and the Fed definition. A ball bunted foul off to the side and caught meets their criteria for being a foul tip. A pitch that is over the batter's head and "tipped" into the catcher's glove does not fit their definition and therefore must be an out, even if it acts as if it never touched the bat at all. Without the "over the head" clause, I'd have no problem at all knowing a foul tip when I saw it.

[DownTownTonyBrown]

Is there such a thing as a foul tip in Slowpitch? I don't think so, but haven't done any in probably 5 years.

I have never seen a foul tip (baseball and Fastpitch softball) that did anything other than go directly into the catcher's mitt - bobbled possibly, but directly. Directly, as in a straight line - the catcher was gong to catch the ball independent of the batter and the change in flight of the pitch, due to the batter's contact, was so minimal that the ball still went into the catcher's mitt. It is nearly instantaneous - no pop-ups.

An important difference that hasn't been discussed much was pointed out by Roger Green. A foul ball is a dead ball. A foul tip is a live ball; runners can still advance and plays can be made by the catcher after a foul tip e.g. a throw to 2nd.

I have never seen anykind of a pop-up in a fastpitched game that went below the batter's head and was caught by the catcher - they always hit the backstop or me. Catchers are not quick enough to move their mitt during that last two feet of the pitch's flight. Perhaps it is possible but it seems very far-fetched.

[Dakota]

Originally posted by DownTownTonyBrown


(1)An important difference that hasn't been discussed much was pointed out by Roger Green. A foul ball is a dead ball. A foul tip is a live ball; runners can still advance and plays can be made by the catcher after a foul tip e.g. a throw to 2nd.

(2)I have never seen anykind of a pop-up in a fastpitched game that went below the batter's head and was caught by the catcher - they always hit the backstop or me. Catchers are not quick enough to move their mitt during that last two feet of the pitch's flight. Perhaps it is possible but it seems very far-fetched.

I've added the numbering for my convenience

WRT number (1), I have had interesting discussions with coaches and game situations on this point. Say the steal is on, but the batter hits a foul tip. Runner makes it to the next base. Two things will usually happen from here. First, offensive coach thinks the ball is dead and sends his runner back. Defense tags her out. All h--- breaks out with the called out. If that doesn't happen, the we'll have runner staying put and the defensive coach starts raising h--- because it was a "foul ball." I've had both of these happen.

WRT number (2), I've seen lunging or quick-reflexes catches several times where the ball stayed below the batter's head. Again, this presented me with an opportunity for some "face time" with the coach.

If in doubt - it is a foul tip. But, if I clearly see the catcher making the play (glove to the ball instead of ball to the glove), I've got an out.