What’s a catch?

No one in the NFL and now in Major League Baseball knows for sure.

The NFL has been dogged by its nonsensical definition of a catch for many years. Think Lions’ receiver Calvin Johnson against the Bears when he jumped, clutched the ball like a vice with both hands, tumbled to the ground in the end zone, rolled over and nearly stood up before dropping the ball.

No catch.

Think Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu against the Colts in the 2005 AFC Championship game when he picked off Peyton Manning, rolled over and had his knee knock the ball out of his hands.

No catch.

Now MLB wants to get in on all that fun with its even more ridiculous “transfer rule,” which isn’t even a rule in its own rulebook (only in its — ugh — replay addendum), but is being enforced this season.

There have been two examples of this rule run amok already this season.

The first came in Cleveland when Indians’ right fielder David Murphy made a running catch, took four steps, ran into the wall, turned, took two more steps and dropped the ball when he was taking it out of his glove to make a throw.

After a review (ugh), it was ruled a drop.

No catch.

Another happened in Texas when Rangers’ catcher J.P. Arencibia received a throw on a comebacker to the pitcher against the Mariners with the bases loaded, took two steps forward and dropped the ball when trying to make a throw to first for a double play.

No catch.

These two plays have been outs in baseball from 1869 to 2013.

But not in 2014.

Why? Because we can look at these plays on a small television and break them down frame by frame? That’s not a good reason to nullify what has been a good play for 144 years.

Another issue with the new definition of a catch has come on bang-bang plays at first base.

The Red Sox thought they had an inning-ending double play against the Yankees Sunday night, but replay showed that the baseball was in the “glove cylinder” of Boston first baseman Mike Napoli, but not the “glove webbing.”

Apparently, a catch begins at the moment the ball hits the “glove webbing,” but not before.

Enough.

No one likes these rules. The players hate it. The managers even hate it because it makes them look like jerks when they walk like “The Oldest Man” from the Carol Burnett Show out to the umpire to challenge what they know is a catch, but what the replay rules now say isn’t.

It needs to be changed. Immediately. Instantly. Right now.

But knowing MLB, they’ll drop the ball on this one, too.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.