In the Cubs Mets game...foul ball down the left field line bullpen area. Mets SS catches the foul ball and trips over a folding chair left there by bullpen personnel. What if he tripped over the chair and did not catch the ball? What rules cover this at different levels
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In the Cubs Mets game...foul ball down the left field line bullpen area. Mets SS catches the foul ball and trips over a folding chair left there by bullpen personnel. What if he tripped over the chair and did not catch the ball? What rules cover this at different levels
Off the top of my head, I don't recall any specific rules for this particular situation. That being the case, most likely you are going to need to go with ground rules for the particular field.
MLB universal ground rules say that a chair may not be brought onto the playing field from the dugout or bullpen. However I believe this would have been considered in the bullpen area. With that in mind, the ground rules for Wrigley have:
BULLPEN AREA
It doesn't specify a folding chair though...
If I have to make the call, I'm going to say it's part of the bullpen - so the fielder has to deal with it. Same if it was a rosin bag or somebody's bag of seeds.
No catch. Same as if he tripped over the tarp, or a bullpen bench, or the mound, ...
