"What if" an Umpire's ruling was legit

[tschock]

Originally Posted by philliesfan

This is more of a "What would be the rule if this happened". I am sure there is a current rule in place but I don't know what it is.

A batter has 1 strike on him. He fouls the next pitch. The catcher runs 20 feet back looking for the ball in the air but can't locate it because the ball was fouled straight up in the air. The batter sees it coming down to home plate and takes another swing and hits the ball into left field. Is this is hit? What if he swung and missed, is that strike three? Is it interference?

Would be interested to hear the ruling

Thanks,
Robert

What I would rule (not referencing any playbook) is a dead ball, similar if a batter fouled off the ball and it hit himself. Only Bugs Bunny can pitch 3 strikes with a single throw. All this assuming that the catcher didn't have a chance at the catch, which if so, would then be batter interference and the batter would be out (interference being a judgement call).