Outfielder charging a short fly ball. Makes the catch falling down. As he rolls over to get up ball comes loose. Is this considered in the transfer or a dropped ball?
youngen ... Your fact pattern is fairly simple, but not having seen the play, it's difficult for anyone to rule on it conclusively ... My initial reaction is "no catch" ... However, here's the relevant rule that should have been applied by the umpire(s) to call the play ...
__________
§1.10 • CATCH
A catch is a legally caught ball that occurs when the fielder catches a batted or thrown ball with his hand(s) or glove and the resulting release of the ball must be voluntary. NOTE: It is not a catch if a fielder, after he contacts the ball, collides with another player, umpire or a fence, or falls to the ground and loses possession of the ball as a result of the collision or falling to the ground. A ball that strikes anything other than a defensive player while it is in flight, is ruled the same as if it struck the ground. An illegally caught ball occurs when a fielder catches a batted or thrown ball with anything other than his hand(s) or glove in its proper place.
youngen.. per your post and with no mention of the fielder reaching for the ball I would have no catch..
what I do not like about the rule Dave posted is the way the wording was changed back around 2011 .. I take a rule "literally" for what it says and it now states ..
An illegally caught ball occurs when a fielder catches a batted or thrown ball with anything other than his hand(s) or glove in its proper place.
before 2011 the wording used to give an explanation of a fielder catching a ball with his arms/body and pinning it up against the body and the catch was not considered legal until he grasped it with his hand or glove..
now the wording says if it's not "CAUGHT" with the HAND or GLOVE in its proper place then it's considered an illegal catch
scenario.. a 1st baseman reaches out to snag a short hopper that rolls up his arm and into his body and is pinned in his arm pit.. "TECHNICALLY" he caught the ball with his body and pinned it .. but he still has time to grasp the ball in his hand before the runner reaches 1st base.. per the way the rule is written the actual catch was an illegal catch
and before Dave says it.. yes I'm "LITERALLY" picking at nits...lol
This is synonymous with the NFL rule. You have to “complete the process”
I have a couple of questions, after reading what bj posted and nobody has answered. I have seen this play many times, an OF comes running in hard and slides corralling and catching the ball in his mid section, his glove never touches the ball. I would assume that if he then reached over and grabbed the ball this would be an out, even though he actually didn't use his bare hand or glove to make the catch or is it considered an illegal catch?
Also what would be some examples of an illegal catch and what if a fielder used his hat to snag a ball and then reached in and grabbed the ball to show control?
TECHNICALLY the fielder only pinned the ball against his body. TECHNICALLY the fielder can let ball fall to the ground, gain control of the ball with either the gloved or bare hand before the B/R touches the base.
Fielders may not use their hats to gain control of the ball.
