fair ball

American  

noun

Baseball.

1. a batted ball that both lands and settles within the foul lines in the infield, or that is within the foul lines when bounding to the outfield past first or third base, or that first lands within the foul lines of the outfield or would if it were not caught or deflected.

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Etymology

Origin of fair ball

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fair ball

A trio of Pirates scored Sunday when New York pitcher Taijuan Walker knocked a barely fair ball into foul territory and nobody went to retrieve it.

From Fox News ● Jul. 20, 2021

The Tigers had taken a 2-0 lead in the top half of the eighth when the ballboy down the first-base line mistakenly picked up a fair ball, resulting in a ground-rule double.

From Washington Times ● May 4, 2018

Until 1864, even a fair ball caught after one bounce was recorded as an out.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2012

I got kind of caught in no-man’s land before I realized it was a fair ball.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 2012

It was a straight-away, honest and fair ball that he sent.

From Dick Prescotts's Fourth Year at West Point Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)