Home run or out?

Question

Hypothetical question...please provide your reasoning...

If a baseball player hit a baseball in fair territory so hard that it encircled the Earth, came back into the stadium, and was then caught by an outfielder, should the result be a home run or an out? Why?

Interesting arguments on both sides. I like how this situation has been equated with a long, high fly ball by many of you. On the other side of the coin, assuming it takes a while for the ball to travel, wouldn't a home run have to be declared before the next pitch? We can't still have a ball in play once the next batter is up!? I guess that's the conundrum. John M, you made me laugh...funny answer!

Answer 1

It is a homerun, even assuming in our imaginary world that the ball circles the earth without coming into contact with any other object and does so fast enough that it occurs before the next pitch according to the rules of baseball it is a homerun. Here is the actual rule copied from the MLB website

d) A fair ball passes over a fence or into the stands at a distance from home base of 250 feet or more. Such hit entitles the batter to a home run when he shall have touched all bases legally. A fair fly ball that passes out of the playing field at a point less than 250 feet from home base shall entitle the batter to advance to second base only;

As far as John M's reply, even when a player robs someone of a homerun they have to stay in play, when you see in movies a player jumping over the fence and making the catch it is inaccurate, that would be a homerun.

Ryan R you are wrong...again. The rule is very clear that once the ball leaves the playing field over a fence that is 250 ft away, in fair territory it is a homerun. For someone who has been an umpire you sure don't understand the rules very well. That is the second time on here I have seen you give the wrong answer. Time to go back to umpire school.

Answer 2

I think its an out. You may say its a home run because it cleared the fence, but how many times has an outfielder caught a ball after it cleared the fence? It also doesn't matter if he circled the bases before it was caught, because the ball was never in play. It never hit the ground. Similar question would be: what if a player hit a fly ball so high that he circled the bases before it was caught. It doesn't matter since its an out! As long as the defensive player makes the catch and his last step he took was on the field, it is an out (i say this because if a player hops in the stands and catches it its still a home run). By rule, the ball is caught on the field before it hit the ground. That is a very long fly ball, but out.

Answer 3

It would be an out because it was caught on the field.

Tommy...'s interpretation of the rule is wrong. In the situation described here, the player is still on the field. In fact, he could chase the ball all around the globe and still catch it for an out, as long as he makes the catch on the field.

As far as the notion that a home run would have been declared by the time the ball returned, let's be real, guys: no batted ball is going to go around the globe.

Answer 4

Its an out. A ball can clear the fence and be caught - see web gems on Baseball Tonight - by the outfielder and it is still an out, not a home run. And it wouldn't matter if he made it all the way around the bases or not. If the fly ball has not touched the ground he could circle the bases 10 times if he wanted to, when its caught its an out.

Answer 5

Well if the ball was traveling fast enough, that they actually waited long enough for the ball to come back instead of getting a new ball, I would give the fielder the out, because it must take some real skill to catch a ball that is traveling at the speed of light.

Answer 6

if it went over the fence and encircled the earth it would obviously have to be a home run because it cleared the fence. as long as it clears the fence, it's a home run. although when an OF robs a home run, the ball cleared the fence, but it was caught, which is kind of like this question........hmmm.......i'm gonna say HR though becuase it would probably be like 3 innings later when the ball was caught, so it would have already been a HR and everyone would be like where the f*** did this ball come from...if the ball was caught like, 2 seconds after it cleared the fence...i'd say out becuase its like if a player climbed the outfield wall and made the catch in the stands...yes definetly an out...well call it what you want, but give that man some respect....this answer took me like 5 minutes...good question

Answer 7

Clearly it's an out. The ball was eventually catch in fair territory and in the field of play. As stated in the rule book, it's an out.

Answer 8

HR because the time it would take for the ball to encircle the earth would be a very long time and play will have resumed and the outfielder would't catch it until a few weeks down the road.

Answer 9

IT'S AN OUT!!!!!!!!! It's pretty much like asking if a hurricane wind blew a ball that was past the homerun mark back into fair play and it was caught. I don't think anyone would argue THAT being an OUT!

No batted ball can be declared fair, foul, out or homerun until it has landed somewhere.

Answer 10

Home run. Once it leaves the field of play no matter how it gets back in it is then a dead ball.