Call reversed ?

[coachdan]

Have R1 on second, R2 on first batter hits a line drive by the 3rd baseman but lands foul by about 10 feet in left field. Ump ruled fair ball and later stated that 3rd baseman touched the line drive as it went past her. Now here is where it gets interesting, batter saw that ball was well foul and after making a couple of steps toward first she stops and returns to toward batters box then after everyone told her it was fair ball she reversed direction again and ran to first. After play was over I question blue about the fair ball call and he stated the above about contact by the 3rd baseman. I then address the issue of batter/runner stopping and then reversing directions back to home plate. State that batter/runner should be out and all baserunners should have to return to org base becasue she cannot reverse direction going to first. Blues got together and changed then call to foul ball. How can these be done...can a fair/foul call be reversed after the play? I did not push the situation because we had a nice lead but would like to know how this should have been handled.

 

[Comp]

If no pitch had been thrown and the other umpire had information which convinced the plate umpire it was in fact a foul ball, yes the call from fair to foul can be reversed.

As to your argument about the batter should be out for stopping and reversing direction between home and 1st, this only applies when a play is being attempted on the batter/runner. In the situation you have presented, no play was being attempted and the batter/runner can run anywhere and any direction she likes.

 

[David Carter]

Have R1 on second, R2 on first batter hits a line drive by the 3rd baseman but lands foul by about 10 feet in left field. Ump ruled fair ball and later stated that 3rd baseman touched the line drive as it went past her. Now here is where it gets interesting, batter saw that ball was well foul and after making a couple of steps toward first she stops and returns to toward batters box then after everyone told her it was fair ball she reversed direction again and ran to first. After play was over I question blue about the fair ball call and he stated the above about contact by the 3rd baseman. I then address the issue of batter/runner stopping and then reversing directions back to home plate. State that batter/runner should be out and all baserunners should have to return to org base becasue she cannot reverse direction going to first. Blues got together and changed then call to foul ball. How can these be done...can a fair/foul call be reversed after the play? I did not push the situation because we had a nice lead but would like to know how this should have been handled.

Usually the only time you see this is when a ball bounces around the plate area and the batter takes off and gets to first a coach argues the call the PU then gets with one of the field umps who say he plainly saw it hit the batter in the box (he did not make the call originally because it is not his to make), although that is technically fair to dead ball. In your situation if after a discussion the field ump tells the PU he is 100% sure the ball did not touch the fielders glove and the PU concedes a foul ball ruling would be correct. Again this is one of those situations where as the coach I always calmly and clearly ask the ump two questions 1) what did you see 2) what is your ruling. The answer can NOT be it touched the fielders glove but I am ruling it foul unless he says it hit the fielders glove but she was diving for the ball and it contacted her glove in foul territory. You can't change what the umpire says they "saw" (although the umpires can get together with each other and change what they agree they saw) you can only make sure that given what they saw they are applying the rule correctly. It does beg the question why did he call it fair in the first place if he did not see it plainly but he does have to make a call and quickly and might have reacted to what looked like movement as the ball past the third baseman.

As far as your original protest the batter-runner can not stop or return towards home plate to avoid a tag by a fielder but this was not the case so I think she might have been OK but I just took a quick glance at the rulebook and might be missing something.

 

[MTR]

Have R1 on second, R2 on first batter hits a line drive by the 3rd baseman but lands foul by about 10 feet in left field. Ump ruled fair ball and later stated that 3rd baseman touched the line drive as it went past her. Now here is where it gets interesting, batter saw that ball was well foul and after making a couple of steps toward first she stops and returns to toward batters box then after everyone told her it was fair ball she reversed direction again and ran to first. After play was over I question blue about the fair ball call and he stated the above about contact by the 3rd baseman.

Okay, at this point the ball is fair.

I then address the issue of batter/runner stopping and then reversing directions back to home plate. State that batter/runner should be out and all baserunners should have to return to org base becasue she cannot reverse direction going to first.

That is wrong. There is no penalty for a BR reversing direction

Blues got together and changed then call to foul ball. How can these be done...can a fair/foul call be reversed after the play? I did not push the situation because we had a nice lead but would like to know how this should have been handled.

If the other umpire had information to add to the situation that was not previously availble to the PU, yes, the PU can correct the call.