After seeing the clip of Evan Longoria hitting the catwalk and being awarded a hit at Tropicana Field based on stadium rules, I want to know if there is a site that lists the rules for each stadium?
The most picturesque ones are that balls that get caught in the outfield wall ivy at Wrigley, or through the scoreboard at Fenway, are ground rule doubles.
The rules state “two bases” instead of “ground rule double”. Is that intentional or just two ways of saying the same thing? Could someone theoretically be rounding first before a ball gets stuck in the ivy and be awarded third base?
Also fun:
Houston: Batted ball strikes flagpole and rebounds onto playing field: In Play.
That’s gotta suck.
Any time I’ve actually seen it happen at Wrigley, it’s been a ground-rule double.
The outfield in Houston is a frickin’ putt-putt golf course. A disgrace to the game.
Agreed.
Two ways of saying the same thing. Also called “automatic double”.
No, they have to stop at second. Or go back if already past second.
On 4 May 1984, Dave Kingman hit a towering fly ball in the Metrodome. The ball got stuck in a hole in the roof and never came down.
His “hole in one” was ruled a double.
This is just speculation on my part but I think there’s a subtle distinction. In most cases of a batted ball getting lodged in the ivy it’s a ground rule double. However, if for some bizarre reason a player threw a ball that were to get lodged in the ivy the runners would get 2 bases from where ever they are. With Soriano in left it’s possible we could actually see something like this this season.
I’m pretty sure that if a ball is thrown into the seats a player is awarded 2 bases as well, the ivy acts the same way. I suppose one might say that there are 2 ground rules for the ivy, one is a ground rule double for batted balls and one is a two base rule for everything else. Just like with the rest of out-of-play areas in other parks.
In the early days of baseball there were no fences. One time a ball got by the outfielders and was picked up and eaten by a pig in the neighboring farm. The ruling was that it was an inside-the-pork home run.
Rule 7.05g says that if an outfielder throws the ball into a wire screen or the like after the batter rounded first then, yes, the batter would be awarded third. If the batter had not yet reached first then he’d be awarded second. However, if an infielder throws the ball into a wire screen or the like on the first play after being struck by the bat, the batter has to stop at second no matter when the throw was made.
So I suppose the ground rules at Wrigley treat the ivy the same as they treat the wire screens. Makes sense.
: points to door :
Feh. If you want every playing field to be the same, become a football fan. (I do think the flagpole is over the top, but I love Tal’s Hill.)
–Cliffy
A “ground rule double” is a double given as the result of a local ground rule for the ballpark, like an ivy ball at Wrigley or a catwalk ball at the Trop. An “automatic double” is a double given as a result of a baseball rule that’s common to all ballparks, like a ball bouncing into the stands after landing fair.
I had to read this sentence like 4 times before I realized it was Evan and not Eva Longoria hitting the catwalk and getting a hit for it. I mean, I know she’s hot and all but really she managed to stop the game for it based on the rules of the Stadium? :smack: