[greymule]

The wording "completely within the lines of the batter's box" is ambiguous and did need clarification. One could certainly argue that being on the line is not the same as being within that line.

Apparently the true line (infinitely thin in theory) is the line that borders the outside of the chalk line.

In a SP playoff game a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that a batter had set up with his entire foot behind the back line of the box. I stopped play and told him he had to start on or inside the line (which was still visible). The guy acted as if I was the worst nitpicker in the history of softball. After he hit a weak fly to left center, he let everyone in the park know that I was responsible for his failure to get a hit.

But I did a playoff doubleheader in another league a few days later, and as BU I noticed that many batters were running up on pitches and seemed to be out of the box when they made contact. The league had used the one-ump system during the season, and the PU, one of their regular umps, told me, "They've been doing it all year. I don't call it."

So in the second game, I ignored about a dozen obvious infractions.