Quote:
Originally posted by Alligator Bag
Did I kick this or do you have anything else?
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Like a lot of the other respondents, I think you probably did kick the call but I don't guess that anyone of us is fool enough to think that this weird situation couldn't also happen to them!
There is a precedent for a "fix" here. I would agree with all of those who said to start over from where the ball was improperly put in play with the proper batter on 1st base.
The precedent originally comes from JEA in relation to umpires improperly putting the ball in play without the requisite number of defensive players on the field, but with a few other references it is close enough to be able to justify your ruling a do over in this case too. Consider the following from JEA:
From OBR 1.01
Situations: Top of 5th inning. The first batter walks. The next batter doubles to right. The umpire realizes that there has been no left fielder since the inning started. Do you allow the runners to remain on base or do you start the inning over? RULING: No action may take place with less than nine defensive players on the field. The inning starts over.
From OBR 5.11
Professional Interpretation: This writer contends that it is also essential that the batter be in the batters box and reasonably set before the call of Play is signaled. (Identical to the procedure for starting the game ...4.02).
In addition, failure to have the batter in his set position could conceivably subject the pitcher to a penalty for an illegal pitch (2.00 illegal Pitch).
Given the three citations from JEA referenced here (1.01, 4.02 and 5.11), I'd say there was ample argument for a do over from the moment the ball was improperly put back into play with the batter standing on 1st base.
Hope this helps.
Cheers