Today is a one time holiday for Cub fans everywhere. I wish you all a Happy Kris Bryant Day. He being the goat slaying uber-prospect that will finally deliver a championship.
Again, people will wonder what does this have to do with the rules.
Well, in his last (probably ever) minor league AB, Bryant does what Bryant does – he hit a homer. It did not come without controversy.
It was a pole bender that was ruled fair. Here is the video:
It is minor league video so there is not a great view of the ball leaving the park. That is the key to the rule. The ball does not have to land fair beyond the wall. It just has to leave the park inside the foul pole.
On a bouncing ball over first or third the rule is similar. It does not matter where the ball lands it only matters that it bounded over the base.
It looks like this was a 3 man umpiring crew. With a man on first, this fair/foul ball down the line is the responsibility of the home plate umpire. Not optimal but it is what it is. The umpire does a good job of finding the line, gaining some ground towards the play, and then being set to make the call. A lot of umpires would still be moving on this call – a bad thing to do.
Fair/Foul ball is covered on page 37 of RuleGraphics.
BetterRuleBook.com 