mikille wrote:Situation: R1 on 2nd base. BR hits ball down 3rd base line. Ball nicks off 3rd baseman glove and passes 3rd base in foul territory and continues about 80 feet down the line. Issue: PU yells foul while motioning with right arm that ball is fair. Runners ND fielders hear the foul call, then notice the PU arm signal of fair. While ball is still rolling PU yells "fAir, it tipped off her glove", then he hesitates a few seconds and yells dead ball. The PU recounted to the coaches the exact scenario as described above. Should the final ruling be a foul ball, or should the umpire award the BR a base (which he ended up doing)?
If this was near the line where it is possible it was just a bad judgment by the PU, it is a foul ball.
If there is no doubt the ball was fair, and I mean NO doubt, the PU can rectify the situation in this case. Since it is obvious the "foul" was an errant vocal comment, and it is obvious the defense was in no position to retire the BR, award BR 1B and leave R1 at 2B. ASA 10.3.A & C