Blowing A Ball Foul
Crystal from Pittsburgh, PA asks:
If a ball is hit fair can the pitcher blow the ball foul?
Even though there is no written rule against a pitcher doing this, most umpires are in agreement that this should not be allowed. This famous situation occured in 1981 and, after initially ruling the ball foul after Amos Otis blew it foul, the umpires later overturned their call because they felt that a fielder should not be allowed to illegally alter the course of a batted ball. Since a situation like this is not explained in the rule book, the umpires used rule 9.01(c), which says that the umpires are allowed to make any ruling on anything not covered in the rule book, to rule that this is not allowed and that the batter should be awarded first base.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
Keywords: Fielders