Fair or Foul Balls

Question
Mr. Senger, I have a couple of questions on whether a ball is fair or foul.

1) If a batter swings and hits the ball on the ground but the ball starts off in foul territory (lets say he fouls it straight down in the batters box but the spin sends it towards fair territory) and rolls into fair territory before passing 1st or 3rd base and before anyone touches it and then stops in fair territory, is it a fair ball even though it started in foul territory?

2) A batter hits a pop up which lands in foul territory and because of the spin rolls into fair territory before passing 1st or 3rd base. Is it a fair ball if it stops in fair territory?

I always thought both #1 and #2 were foul balls because they started in foul territory but other guys thought #1 was fair and #2 foul.

I would really appreciate an answer.

Thank you

Answer
Michael,

With any foul balls up to (and including) first and third bases, the decision on whether a ball is fair or foul lies in three questions:

1. Where was the ball when it was first touched?
2. Where was the ball when it passed by first or third base?
3. Where was the ball when it stopped?

These questions essentially go in order, too: "Was the ball touched before passing the bases or stopping?" If no, "Did the ball pass first or third before stopping?" If no, "Where was the ball when it stopped?"

In all three questions, the answer of fair or foul is completely decided on the position of the BALL when the situation occurred. Note that this has NOTHING to do with the position of the person that touched it, where the ball ends up (except for #3, when the ball has already stopped), or where the ball may have bounced or not bounced before the fair/foul decision is made. Simply, the ball can only be decided fair or foul AS SOON AS one of the three situations given above occurs.

Both of your scenarios have the same method of thought:

Was the ball touched? No.
Did the ball pass first or third base? No.
Where was the ball when it stopped? The answer is clear: in fair territory.

In both cases, the ball is fair.

With all of this said, remember that these rules only apply to balls before they pass first or third bases. Hit balls that first bounce past first or third bases are determined on their position when the ball first bounces or would have bounced had it not been touched by a fielder.