How Well Do You Know Baseball? ANSWERED

A pitcher throws a ball that bounces in the dirt before it reaches home plate. If the batter swings and hits the ball over the fence before the catcher touches it, does it count as a home run?



I guess this was too easy as everyone got it right.

The Major League rule book defines a pitch as "a ball delivered to the batter by the pitcher". As long as the batter is in the batter's box when he hits it it counts like any other pitch he hits. Note that a pitcher cannot bounce a ball for a strike though. The actual ruling is:

Rule 2.00 (Ball) Comment: If the pitch touches the ground and bounces through the strike zone it is a "ball." If such a pitch touches the batter, he shall be awarded first base. If the batter swings at such a pitch after two strikes, the ball cannot be caught, for the purposes of Rule 6.05 (c) and 6.09 (b). If the batter hits such a pitch, the ensuing action shall be the same as if he hit the ball in flight.