Calling A Ball Foul And Then Fair
Armond Yusi from Port Chester, NY asks:
Can the ump call the ball foul and then three seconds later call it fair?
There is no rule stating that an umpire cannot change his call after making his initial call but this situation should be handled in different ways based on the amount of time passed inbetween calls and the type of call. Since a lot can happen in three seconds in a baseball game, probably the best thing for the umpire to do in this scenerio is to call time and then call the ball fair and award the batter and runners the number of bases he and his partner think that each runner would have advanced. Also, if the umpire who made the call is doubtful about if he made the correct call or not he can confirm with his partner.
However, if the umpire realized his mistake right away and corrected it and he does not believe that it would have effected the play then he can probably continue play as if the incorrect call never happened.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
Keywords: Umpiring