Ball hits a tree

[BretMan]

Sure, if a team trys to tell you their field has a ground rule that doesn't jibe with the rule book...just say "no".

Earlier this year I had games on a field with an electrical wire running partly through live ball area in the outfield. The home team's coach tells me that if a batted ball hits the wire it's a dead ball.

So I ask him, "Then what? Where do you place the batter?".

He tells me first base. I asked what the base award is for other runners already on base. He says, "Ummm, I'm not sure. I've never seen a ball hit the wire before".

I told him that there's no such thing as a "ground rule single". A ground rule can't supersede a book rule. The book rule is that if a fair batted ball becomes dead and unplayable it's a two-base award. That's what we went with...it never came into play.