Uncaught 3rd Strike/Foul Tip

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by youngump

Ummm, land does mean to hit the ground in ordinary usage. I mean it means to alight on a surface. And I suppose the ball could land on a surface other then the ground and meet the requirements of this rule. But a caught ball certainly has not landed as to the ordinary use of that word. Further it's not defined in the rulebook.
The rule for batted ball should say is first touched or first contacts something. But we all do know how to call this one with or without the mistake right?

Of course... but your assumption that land means hits the ground is simply incorrect. Look in several of the other definitions. Foul ball (includes - "a batted ball that ... is touched ... over foul territory"; and "a batted ball that, while over foul territory, touches (several things)"; and "a batted ball that touches the batter or the bat in the batter's hands a second time" ... all of these balls which have not yet touched the ground are a subset of "batted balls".

Fair ball includes several more examples just like this. If "a batted ball" did not include balls that touched something before hitting the ground (or never hit the ground), a great number of definitions would need twice as many subsets to cover the "non-batted ball" (one that has not yet hit the ground).

Obviously, a ball that is in the air is nothing ... yet... but once it hits ANYTHING (including the catcher's glove or equipment!), it has "landed".