foul ball

Nook Logan, of the Erie SeaWolves, hitting a foul ball during a game against the Reading Phillies on July 2, 2006.

In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that is not a foul tip, and that:

• passes out of the playing field in flight while over foul ground, or
• first falls on foul territory beyond first or third base, or
• bounds past first or third base on or over foul territory, before a player or umpire touches it, or
• first touches the person of an umpire, player, or any object foreign to the natural ground while on or over foul ground, or
• before touching or passing first or third base, settles entirely on foul ground before a player or umpire touches it or
• touches a batter in the batter's box
• bounces off the ground or home plate and immediately hits the bat, with the batter in the box

When any foul or fair batted ball is caught in flight, the batter is out. If there are fewer than two outs, any runners on base when a foul ball is caught in flight have the option, at their own risk, to tag up and advance to the next base. On rare occasions, such as in extra innings or the ninth inning of a tie game when a runner is on third base, fielders have been known to let long foul flies drop rather than risk losing the game on a sacrifice fly. Sometimes, in that situation, a fielder will not try to catch a ball that is close to the foul line in the hope that the ball will go foul at the last second--neither catching the ball nor letting it drop would prevent a defeat. When a batter bunts foul with two strikes, he is out. Otherwise, when a batted ball becomes a foul ball, the ball is dead, all runners must return to their time-of-pitch base, and the batter continues to bat.

It is common for a ball moving in or over fair territory to become a foul ball. Batted balls can also be fair balls or foul tips.

In different situations, a foul ball may be considered a positive or negative outcome of a pitch or swing. When there are zero or one strikes, a foul ball counts as a strike, benefiting the pitcher. However, a foul ball may reveal to the batter that he has timed a pitch well and need only make adjustment to the location of his swing on the next such pitch; this is often called a good cut or simply a good swing. Foul balls with two strikes are generally considered positive for the batter, since he thus avoids strike three on a potentially difficult pitch. Also, foul balls with two strikes increase the pitcher's pitch count, adding to his/her fatigue, thus providing some small advantage to the offense. A strategy of swinging on any ball to try to produce additional fouls and prolong an at-bat is often used against strong pitchers to try to drive them from the game sooner (and also the possibility of the pitcher throwing a pitch a hitter can get a hit on); this does, however, have the disadvantage of generating more strikeouts.

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