Foul ball in the context of Pitch (sports)

A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term pitch is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in Australian, American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field.

For most sports the official term is field of play, although this is not regularly used by those outside refereeing/umpiring circles. The field of play generally includes out-of-bounds areas that a player is likely to enter while playing a match, such as the area beyond the touchlines in association football and rugby or the sidelines in American and Canadian football, or the "foul territory" in baseball.

In baseball, to tag up is for a baserunner to retouch or remain on their starting base (the time-of-pitch base) until (after) the ball is first touched by a fielder. By rule, baserunners must tag up when a hit ball is caught by a fielder before it bounces, and in such situations, the baserunners are out if any fielder with possession of the ball touches their starting base before they do. After a legal tag up, runners are free to try and advance, even if the ball was caught in foul territory. On long fly ball outs, runners can often gain a base. When a runner scores by these means, it is known as a sacrifice fly. On short fly balls, runners rarely attempt to advance after tagging up, due to the high risk of being thrown out.

In baseball, a fair ball is a batted ball that entitles the batter to attempt to reach first base. By contrast, a foul ball is a batted ball that does not entitle the batter to attempt to reach first base. Whether a batted ball is fair or foul is determined by the location of the ball at the appropriate reference point, as follows:

• if the ball leaves the playing field without touching anything, the point where the ball leaves the field;
• otherwise, if the ball first lands past first or third base without touching anything, the point where the ball lands;
• otherwise, if the ball rolls or bounces past first or third base without touching anything other than the ground, the point where the ball passes the base;
• otherwise, if the ball touches anything other than the ground (such as an umpire, a player, or any equipment left on the field) before any of the above happens, the point of such touching;
• otherwise, (the ball comes to a rest before reaching first or third base), the point where the ball comes to a rest.

If any part of the ball is on or above fair territory at the appropriate reference point, it is fair; otherwise, it is foul. Fair territory or fair ground is defined as the area of the playing field between the two foul lines, and includes the foul lines themselves and the foul poles. However, certain exceptions exist: