When the rules say that a third strike must be "legally caught" by the catcher, does that include a situation where the catcher has a third strike glance off his glove, but he ends up catching the deflected ball in his throwing hand (i.e., non-catching hand) before it hits the ground? Would he need to transfer the ball to his glove? I ask this because the rule says:
"'Legally caught' means in the catcher’s glove before the ball touches the ground."
I would assume you are correct. As long as it's in his glove before it hits the ground, the batter would be out per the MLB rules.
6.09 The batter becomes a runner when -- (a) He hits a fair ball; (b) The third strike called by the umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied, or (2) first base is occupied with two out;
So there are a few caveats - if there's not a runner on first, under two outs, and the strike was dropped, the batter would be a runner. However, to keep the catcher from dropping the ball and getting an easy double play by throwing to first, the batter is out if there's a runner on first. If there are two outs, the worry about the easy double play at first is moot, and the batter would also be considered a runner.
The rule looks that way, but from a realistic perspective, he would not, as in all other situations in which a player "catches" a ball in that manner, it is considered a good catch. I do not see an umpire enforcing that rule
