Last night's game one of our guys hits a laser up the middle and nails the ump in the hand. Ball trickles to the 2B who tries to make a play at first but our guy beats it. I made the comment it should have been a dead ball and everyone advances one base - which is essentially what happened but it wasn't a dead ball. After making the comment there were other people around me who said I was wrong and it's a live ball because the umpire is part of the field. I said no because a fielder didn't have an opportunity to make a play and therefore the ball is dead. If the ump was behind the fielders (as if the IF was playing in on the grass) then it's a live ball and play it.
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