Any Catching ball in hat

[Fin09]

I thought about this when the question about tagging the bag with the hand was asked, and the response was "any part of the body can be used to tag the bag or plate on a force play". This does not include the hat, though, if taken off the head and used to touch the bag, correct? I was under the impression that if you removed your hat and used it to catch a ball, or tag a bag with it, it was not a legal catch or tag. I looked up the rule in a baseball rulebook, and it was lumped in with a catcher using his mask to scoop up a ball, and the award was 3 bases. This is the award for throwing your glove at a ball, and hitting it, so I'm assuming this falls under the same rule.

I haven't had this come up yet, but I know that I don't know the answer, it's going to happen.

 

[BretMan]

A catch, or a tag, must be made with equipment worn in it's proper place. The proper place for your glove is on your hand and the proper place for your hat is on your head.

Touching a batted, thrown or pitched ball with detached equipment is a rule violation, punishable by base awards of three, two or one base, respectively.

A tag made with detached equipment doesn't have a penalty associated with it. It's just not a valid tag.