It is an out

Last edited Fri Aug 1, 2025, 12:20 PM - Edit history (1)

He was four feet over the fence and didn't land on his feet in the park.

Jeter once famously (to we of the Evil Empire at least) was chasing a foul pop-up in the Stadium on the third base side, when the ball sailed over the railing. Derek just kept going, diving in head first and somehow grabbed the ball before he came to a hard stop with his feet up in the air. The umpire happily was on DJ's heels, and saw him catch the ball, and ruled the batter out.

He sustained some cuts on his face, but he's lucky he didn't break his neck.

So I vote 'out', although there might a specific rule for HRs that I'm unaware of.

Balls over the outfield walls are in fair territory. IMO a fielder trying to rob a hitter of a homer has to reach over the wall, catch the ball, then land of his feet in the field of play. We see those plays all the time

In the instance I'm talking about, the fielder fell over the fence completely and then caught the ball which was a few feet over the fence in fair territory and thus, IMO a home run.

And I remember the Jeter play. It was a great catch, but not the same, as I said before.

On all counts.
A ball in play should require staying within the confines of the field.
Not just fair territory, though.

An outfielder making a catch right along the line but landing in foul territory would be a catch to me. He's still inside the walls.

Another reason I see is that such a catch can't even happen. At Wrigley, the wall is 11&1/2 feet high. Even a bunch of NBA players aren't reaching above that wall, let alone tumble over it. Same with left field at Fenway.

I've always that should be a homerun.

In other words, he didn't jump the fence first and then catch the ball.
Great question Brush

Did you also know that if a pitcher throws hard and inside, it's called a brush back pitch?

Sal, 'The Barber' Maglie who was called that because of the close shave pitches he used to intimidate hitters from digging in at the plate to get more power.

My screen name is from working in the art field.

I think that on a fair ball, the fielder should come to the ground in the field of play.
But, they're not changing the rules because of me.