[greymule]

I mistakenly quoted 7-5-A instead of 7-5-B. However, the part I quoted is identical.

So if the batter swings at a pitch, the pitch hits in front of the plate, and the batter hits it on the short hop, we are to call a ball. I'm not sure I would say the batter swung after the ball hit the ground, but I'll go along with that.

However, by that logic, if the batter swings at a pitch, and we see the ball hit the ground in front of the plate just before the bat misses the ball, we would also call a ball. That's hard to believe, but whether he hits the ball an instant after it touches the ground or misses the ball an instant after it touches the ground should not matter.

Why does ASA use the language "swings at a pitch after the ball hits the ground or plate"? It seems to me they're talking about an obviously late swing that begins after the ball has hit the ground or plate, not an attempt to hit a pitch in flight. We would have to know exactly what "swing" means, and at what instant the batter would be said to have swung.

I really don't want to be a pedant about ASA's wording, but changing "hits" to "has hit" to one sentence might make things clearer: "Any pitched ball that has hit the ground or plate cannot be legally swung at by the batter.