We had an interesting one today

You said the ball was deflected (I assume by a fielder). The runner is not out no matter where he is when the ball hits him.

The umps got the rule wrong. If you can't convince them of this, just protest the game.

I may have misread your question. If the runner (in foul territory) was the first thing the ball touched (other than the ground), then it is a foul ball.

This is PU's fair/foul call. You can ask him to get help from BU that the ball hit the runner, and that it is obviously a foul ball. I would ask PU when was the last time he saw a runner take a lead off 3rd in fair territory.

I don't understand how PU could see the ball pass by 3rd, but miss the ball hitting the runner.

Dash,
Your second comment was accurate. The ball had a slight deflection off of the runner and the base ump called it. The ball changed course slightly and went fair over the base at a pretty good clip. I was just trying to find out who's call it was if the plate ump didn't see the contact with the runner in foul territory. All he saw was the ball going fair over the bag.

Like I said, it was a rocket.

It should initially be the PU's. However, if he missed the ball from the plate until he saw it in fair then he can't make a call. The batter may have gotten in the way, the catcher may have stepped in front of him or he hung his mask. Any of those things could have caused the problem. Once the BU killed the ball it's dead. Now they have to figure what to call. He isn't going to have a good look at the R3's position but if he is far enough foul and the BU can tell, he has to make the call. In this case you almost have to go with foul because you can't guess an out. They need to get together and make the final decision between them The final is going to come from the PU because you have two calls on the same play and he gets the final call. He needs the BU imput but it's his to make.

Thanks for the procedure. The base ump took over and made the call. When our coach tried to appeal he was tossed as he walked out. Oh well, we won anyway. We were curious who had the responsibility to make the call and what kind of reasoning they would use to make the decision.

Now we know. Thanks again. I doubt if it will ever come up again but you never know.