Baseball's Foul Tip Rules Change in Real Life

In this short video, we review professional baseball's 2020 rules change for foul tips at home plate using a real-life example from the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball (Japan). The umpire's call on this foul tip would have been different had this 2021 play occurred just two years earlier.

Play: With two strikes, the batter hits a ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher's armpit and is ultimately held with the hand and caught.

2019 OBR: The Official Baseball Rules definition of FOUL TIP in 2019 would have ruled this a foul ball (not a foul tip): "A batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher's hands and is legally caught. It is not a foul tip unless caught and any foul tip that is caught is a strike, and the ball is in play. It is not a catch if it is a rebound, unless the ball has first touched the catcher's glove or hand."

2020 OBR: Baseball's Rules Committee changed the foul tip definition in 2020: "A batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher and is legally caught. It is not a foul tip unless caught, and any foul tip that is caught is a strike, and the ball is in play."

In other words, the 2019 rule required the batted ball to first contact the catcher's hand (or mitt) before, eventually, being firmly held by the catcher, as in a catch. The 2020 rules change thus eliminated the first touch requirement while keeping the final requirement that the ball be legally caught. This rule is shared by NCAA (college), while NFHS (high school) opted not to change from the circa-2019 rule, at least not quite yet.

As for the precise example from Japan, the only question is whether or not this ball could be considered lodged or stuck. Recall in the case of Dan Bellino "catching" a pitch in the crook of his arm in 2018, the ball was considered dead because Bellino held the ball against his body, thus satisfying OBR 5.06(c)(7)'s requirement of a ball remaining out of play: "The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability to be put out, when—A pitched ball lodges in the umpire’s or catcher’s mask or paraphernalia, and remains out of play, runners advance one base."

In Japan, the catcher released the ball from his armpit in a timely manner and, OBR 5.06(c)(7)'s "remains out of play" clause unsatisfied, the umpire declared the batter out on the caught third strike via foul tip.

This is an illustration of the importance of knowing rules changes. | Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Batter's foul tip is held by the catcher, declared a strike by the umpire (NPB)