Catch or no catch?

How umpires check it

1. Confirm the ball was in flight and had not touched the ground, a fence, a wall, or another object that made it no longer catchable as a fly ball.
2. Watch whether the fielder gained secure possession in a hand or glove.
3. Judge whether the fielder held the ball long enough to prove complete control.
4. Decide whether any release was voluntary and intentional, such as taking the ball out to throw.
5. If the ball came loose because of a collision, fall, wall contact, or continued catch attempt, rule no catch.

What counts as a catch

A legal catch requires secure possession of a ball in flight. The fielder may catch it in the glove or bare hand, and the catch can be made in fair or foul territory. Once a fair or foul fly ball is legally caught, the batter is out.

The umpire does not use a fixed number of steps or seconds. The question is whether the fielder showed complete control and then released the ball by choice. A player who catches the ball, clearly controls it, and then drops it while starting a throw has still made the catch.

When possession is not enough

A ball in the glove can still be no catch if control is not completed. If the fielder hits a wall, collides with another player, falls down, and loses the ball because of that action, the catch has not been proven. The same is true when the fielder traps the ball against the ground or lets it touch the ground before securing it.

That is why a spectacular diving play may look like a catch for a moment and still be ruled no catch after the ball rolls loose. The fielder must finish the catch, not merely interrupt the flight of the ball.

Control can come after a bobble

A bobble does not automatically make the play no catch. If the ball never touches the ground and is finally held by a fielder before it drops, the catch can be legal. That includes a ball juggled by one fielder or deflected from one fielder to another.

A deflection has limits. If a fielder touches a fly ball, it then hits a member of the offensive team or an umpire, and another defensive player catches it, official baseball rules do not treat that as a catch.

For runners, the timing is different from the batter-out ruling. On a caught fly ball, runners may leave their bases when the first fielder touches the ball, not when final control is later shown.

Fences, stands, and dugouts

A fielder may reach over a fence, railing, or line of demarcation to make a catch, but does so at risk. If the fielder legally catches the ball while still eligible to make the play, the catch can count. If the fielder steps or falls into a dugout or other out-of-play area after a legal catch, the catch still stands, but the ball may become dead and runners may receive the applicable award.

A fielder generally may reach into a dugout to catch a foul ball but may not have a foot on the ground inside the dugout or another out-of-play area at the moment required for the catch.

The ball must be secured legally

The fielder must get possession with a hand or glove. Using a cap, pocket, protector, or another part of the uniform to secure the ball is not a legal catch. A ball that lodges in equipment can create a dead-ball or award situation under the relevant rule, but it is not the same as a normal fly-ball catch.

Thrown gloves or detached equipment can also create separate penalties. The catch question starts with legal possession, not only whether the ball stopped moving.

What changes after a catch

• Batter: on a legally caught fair or foul fly ball, the batter is out.
• Runners: runners must retouch, or tag up, before advancing after a caught fly ball.
• Leaving early: if a runner leaves too soon, the defence usually must appeal for the out.
• No catch: if the ball is not caught, runners do not have to tag up and must react to the live ball or dead-ball ruling that follows.

Third strikes and foul tips

Catch rulings are not limited to fly balls. A third strike must be legally caught by the catcher for the batter to be out under the ordinary caught-third-strike rule. If the third strike is not caught, the dropped third strike rule may allow the batter to run depending on the base and out situation.

A foul tip is different from an ordinary foul fly. If it goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher and is legally caught before touching the ground, it is a strike, the ball stays live, and it can be strike three.

"He took three steps, so it was a catch"

Steps can help show control, but they are not the rule by themselves. A fielder can take steps while still completing the catch attempt. If the ball comes loose when the fielder crashes into the wall or falls as part of that same action, the umpire can still rule no catch.

"The ball hit the glove first"

First contact is not enough. A fielder can touch, knock down, bobble, or trap a fly ball without making a catch. The umpire looks for secure possession, control, and voluntary release.

Plays that separate the calls

• Outfielder catches the ball, pauses, then drops it while transferring to throw: catch.
• Outfielder catches the ball, immediately hits the wall, and the ball falls out: no catch.
• Infielder bobbles a pop-up three times but finally holds it before it touches the ground: catch.
• Fielder pins a sinking line drive against the grass: no catch.
• Foul fly is caught near the dugout with the fielder's feet still on or over the playing surface: catch, subject to the out-of-play result if the fielder then falls into the dugout.

Source material

• MLB Official Baseball Rules: catch definition and Rule 5.09(a)(1)
• MLB Official Information
• MLB Foul Ball Glossary
• MLB Dead Ball Glossary
• Little League Rules, Regulations, and Policies