Foul or Fair

Question
Batter swings at pitch and makes light contact with the ball, causing the ball to bounce off of home plate.  The ball then rolls into fair territory.  Is the play fair or foul.  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Gerry:

The short answer to your question is that this is a fair ball.

When judging fair and foul balls, one of the following things has to happen for the judgement to be made; an umpire should not make any signals until at least one of the following criteria is met:

 - The ball stops; judgement is made where the ball is stopped.

 - The ball hits a foreign object (bat, person, fence, etc); judgement is made where the ball hits.  Note that home plate and the pitcher's mound are considered a natural part of the field.

 - The ball touches the ground and crosses into the outfield (passes first or third base); judgement is made where the ball first makes contact with a foreign object or the ground in the outfield.

 - The ball travels, in the air, into the outfield; judgement is made where the ball first makes contact with a foreign object or the ground in the outfield.

It's also important to note that the foul lines are actually a part of fair territory.  If a ball settles on a foul line, it's a fair ball.  Since the foul lines extend to the tip of home plate, all of home plate must be in fair territory.

Thanks for your question; I hope this is helpful.

Cheers,
Gareth