Dropped Third

[All-American SB]

Two strikes on the batter. The batter swings at the next pitch, which is a change up in the dirt. The ball bounces, rolls up the catcher's arm and lands in the plate umpires ball bag. The batter runs to first as the catcher looks for the ball. The umpire kills the play since the ball was lodged in his equipment. He rules the batter out and does not allow the batter to advance to first. He stated that the defense could not be put at a disadvantage because of the lodged ball. Correct call? I can not find the rule or proper mechanic for this situation. Thanks

[Comp]

ASA 8-5-M When a ball gets lodged in : 1. Umpires gear or clothing or 2. In an offensive players clothing. Effect: The ball is dead and the umpire should award the runners the bases the runners would have reached.

[All-American SB]

So it would be a judgement call if the batter would have reached first base or not?

[Comp]

Yes it would be a judgement call.

[jonriv]

Would hate to be making that judgement call- no matter what you call someone is going to be mad

[Comp]

I dont agree with the umpires explanation for the call in the OP. The defense allowed a D3K which ended with the ball in the umpires ball bag. By arbitrarily calling the batter out "because the defense couldnt be put at a disadvantage" actually put the offense at a disadvantage.

And yes, no matter how you rule someone isnt going to be happy.

[AlwaysImprove]

I'm with Comp. Dropped third that ended up in plate umpires bag, has to have a most likely outcome of the runner being safe., had it not gone into umpires bag.

Definitely, would have to have been there. For instance, if it was a short backstop and the catcher had already thrown out 6 batters on balls off that short backstop, then most likely outcome, maybe, most likely outcome was out.

[MTR]

I dont agree with the umpires explanation for the call in the OP. The defense allowed a D3K which ended with the ball in the umpires ball bag. By arbitrarily calling the batter out "because the defense couldnt be put at a disadvantage" actually put the offense at a disadvantage.

And yes, no matter how you rule someone isnt going to be happy.

But it wouldn't have been a U3K if the batter didn't swing or miss the ball, so it could just as well be argued the offense allowed the situation to exist

[Comp]

Agreed, but the offense didnt miss blocking the ball.

[BearFlagFan]

Agreed, but the offense didnt miss blocking the ball.

The swing didn't put the ball in the ump's bag, it was the catcher not fielding the ball properly. As the PU it's easier for me to justify the BR on 1B than declare her out. But I wasn't there so ultimately it's the PU's judgment that counts. There's no appeal on that play as it turns on the PU's judgment.