Where is the baseline supposed to be?
Question:I was umpireing the other day and a girl hit a ball down the third base line that hit chalk. I called a fair ball. The coach argued it foul because the baseline was on the other side of the bag so therefore he said it was foul. My question is is he right or should the baseline go to the corner of the base, instead of beside it? I told him it was fair because it hit chalk and whoever laid out the lines did it wrong.
Answers:
What channel is the Yankee Red Sox game on today?
the bases are completely in fair territory and the outside edge of the line should run straight from the outside edge of home plate through the outside edge of the base and continue in a staight line to the outfield wall. You are correct, in that, if the ball hits this chalk line it is fair. But it sounds like the inside edge of the line was used by your grounds keeper, incorrectly, which would put the chalk in foul territory.If the coach had an issue with the way the lines were put down, he should have brought it to your attention before it became an issue and discussed what the ruling would be in that case.
As an umpire, it is your duty to notice these conditions and you should have told the teams that balls hitting the chalk would be called foul during that game.
Even if the field is marked incorrectly as it appears this one was, batted ball in flight that strikes the ground on the foul line is a fair ball. Once a game begins a game cannot be protested due to a field problem.
It is a fair ball and get a groundskeeper who knows how to line the field.
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