In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that: Settles on foul territory between home and first base or between home and third base, or. Bounces and then goes past first or third base on or over foul territory, or. Has its first bounce occur in foul territory beyond first or third base, or.
(A foul ball counts as a strike, but it cannot be the third and final strike of the at-bat. A foul tip, which is caught by the catcher, is considered a third strike.) The batter is automatically out on a strikeout, unless the catcher does not cleanly hold onto the baseball or if the baseball hits the dirt.
A ball is considered fair if it touches a player or an umpire while in fair territory. It is determined by the ball’s position when it is touched. A foul ball occurs when a batted ball crosses foul territory and collides with a player or umpire.
In baseball, there is no set limit to how many foul balls a batter can hit. Even though a foul ball is considered a strike, a foul ball will not increase the number of strikes when the batter already has two strikes in the count.
A foul tip is a batted ball that goes sharply and directly to the catcher’s hand or glove and is legally caught. A foul tip is considered equivalent to a ball in which the batter swings and misses, in that the baserunners are able to advance at their own risk (without needing to tag up).
Short answer: if a batted ball is in foul territory and crosses back into fair territory before passing the 1st/3rd base (without the influence of a fielder), it is fair. If it passes back into fair territory after the base, it’s foul.
The ball is considered fair if it hits the line past first or third base. It can go into foul territory after hitting the line as long as it makes contact with the line past one of the bases. So, yes, hitting the foul line can result in a fair ball.
In 1901, the National League introduce a rule that required the first two foul ball hit by a batter to be counted as strikes. The American League adopted the rule in 1903. In part this was introduced to prevent batters from endlessly hitting foul balls.
A foul ball is also counted as a strike when a hitter has less than two strikes. When a batter accumulates three strikes, he is out. If the batter bunts a foul ball with two strikes then it is counted as a strike and the batter is out.
Because first base and third base are along the foul lines, they are the markers used to determine a fair or foul ball. If the ball lands in foul territory before reaching first base or third base, it is a foul ball. If the ball travels beyond the bases, and then happens to go into foul territory, it is a fair ball.
Infield Foul Balls
A ball in the infield may start out fair and then roll foul. For this reason some defensive players may decide to let the ball roll foul if they think they can’t get the batter out.
No, the entire batters box is not in foul territory. The little small triangle is in fair territory (if I understand correctly). More precisely, fair/foul territory is defined by fair/foul line and not affected by batter’s box. If the ball settles in this area, it is fair.
Can you bunt with 2 strikes? In any level of baseball, a batter is allowed to bunt with 2 strikes. However, when a batter has 2 strikes and the bunt attempt results in a foul ball, the ball is ruled a strike and the at-bat is recorded as a strikeout.
At the time, only every third “unfair pitch” was called a ball, meaning that a batter could only walk after nine pitches out of the strike zone. As time went on, the rule was dropped to eight balls, then seven, and so-on until four balls were settled on by the league in 1889.
You cannot steal a base on a “dead” or foul ball. Overthrown or passed balls may be stolen on, as long as the ball is still considered to be “live” The base ahead of you must be unoccupied (unless the runner ahead of you also attempts to steal the base in front of them; this is known as a double steal)
This rule is the simplest rule of fan etiquette in all of baseball: If you catch the ball, you get to keep the ball. If a ball comes flying into the stands down the line, or looping into the first row of the upper deck and you catch it, you keep that ball.
In the case of these general calculations, the general, MLB-wide odds of snagging a foul ball is 1:835.
A ball that is not caught by the catcher is not (and cannot be) a foul tip. A foul tip is always a strike; and, unlike a foul ball, a foul tip can result in strike three. A foul tip is a live ball. Runners can advance (steal) at their peril.
Yes. This is treated like any other pitch. The ball can be batted and if the batter is touched by the bounced pitch, he is awarded first base on a hit by pitch.
If a ball strikes the foul pole, it is ruled as fair. It does not matter if the ball bounces into foul territory after hitting the pole. The ball only needs to touch the foul pole to be fair – even grazing the pole is sufficient.
So what is the main difference between a foul tip and a foul ball? It’s in the catcher’s hands. A foul tip is a pitch that is nicked by the hitter’s bat, goes directly into the catcher’s hand or glove and is caught before touching the batter, the umpire or the ground. Anything else is a foul ball.
If the ball hits any part of the yellow strip and goes over the fence, it is ruled a home run. If a ball hits an outfielder on the head on the fly (think Jose Canseco) and bounces over the fence, it’s a home run.
An important difference is that for a hit batter or catcher’s interference, the ball is dead and no one may advance unless forced; the ball is live after a walk (see below for details). A batter who draws a base on balls is commonly said to have been “walked” by the pitcher.
A pitch timer, limits on defensive shifts and bigger bases are coming to Major League Baseball in 2023. Following recent experiments in the Minor Leagues, the recently formed Joint Competition Committee voted Friday in favor of three rule changes aimed at improving pace of play, action and safety at the MLB level.
Definition. The foul lines and foul poles are used to demarcate fair territory and, thus, determine what constitutes a foul ball. Any batted ball that first contacts a fielder while the ball is in foul territory is considered foul.