Definition of a Home Run

[Cy2009]

I saw a clip this morning where a player jumped up to catch a possible home run ball. He caught the ball but int he process of jumping, he leaped over a (small) outfield fence, caught the ball in air and landed over the fence in home run territory. They called the batter out.

It seems to me that if the ball is caught outside of the fence, caught or not, that should be a home run. The ball cleared the fence and was not brought back into play without having to walk back onto the field.

Any thoughts that this baseball rule should be changed that the fielder must stay in the field of play in order to record the out?

Cy

[bigtrain]

Players frequently go into the stands to catch foul balls. Unlikely that that rule will ever change since catches that take away home runs are some of the most exciting plays in the game.

[novakjr]

It's not a home run because and "in play" player could make the catch before officially being considered out of play.

However if the player is out of play already before he catches it, then it would be a home run..Personally, I've never seen this scenario on a home run though..

Theoretically, this could work the other way also. Say, for instance a 3rd baseman is chasing a foul ball and falls over the rails into the stands, but is able to recover and reach back inside of the rail to catch a ball that doesn't end up reaching the stands. I believe the call would be "out of play" since the defensive player had established himself as out of play, despite the ball not reaching the stands.

[bdk1976]

I'm guessing you're talking about this play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al6qbfkdcKU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The better question is - why do they have a 2-3 ft fence in the outfield!?

Reminds me of the HR Jay Buhner robbed at Fenway where he ended up in the bullpen..

[AgonyandIvy]

I'll leave to no less an authority on catching flies outside the field of play than Bugs Bunny himself. In the classic BB documentary short feature "Baseball Bugs", in the last inning, one of the Gasehouse Gorillas hit a screaming line drive from the Polo Grounds that flew out of the entire ballpark, all the down to the lower east side where Bugs went into the Umpire State Building, up the elevator out the observation deck and up a flagpole. And even then he had to throw his glove in the air, but he caught the ball on the fly and the umpire on the scene immediately called the batter OUT! :D. :D. :D

Also, you see all the time fielders reaching into the stands to catch foul balls for outs. It doesn't matter where it's hit, if a player runs out the gate, up the stairs down a tunnel and catches a hit ball on the fly, you're OUT!

[WillBBC]

I'll leave to no less an authority on catching flies outside the field of play than Bugs Bunny himself. In the classic BB documentary short feature "Baseball Bugs", in the last inning, one of the Gasehouse Gorillas hit a screaming line drive from the Polo Grounds that flew out of the entire ballpark, all the down to the lower east side where Bugs went into the Umpire State Building, up the elevator out the observation deck and up a flagpole. And even then he had to throw his glove in the air, but he caught the ball on the fly and the umpire on the scene immediately called the batter OUT! :D. :D. :D

Also, you see all the time fielders reaching into the stands to catch foul balls for outs. It doesn't matter where it's hit, if a player runs out the gate, up the stairs down a tunnel and catches a hit ball on the fly, you're OUT!

This. A million times this! I need to watch that tonight.