Quote:
Originally posted by cbfoulds
Not speaking for Tim, of course, but I suspect that he reads "carelessly" to mean something more and different from "accidentally" and "inadvertently", or even "forgetfully" and "stupidly". With this I agree.
Also, like him, I have never, in my judgment, seen a bat thrown "carelessly" on a 90' field: LL a different matter.
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I had determined to stay out of this thread, but the apparent inconsistency of Tee's newfound devotion to the letter of the FED law but disdain for this rule and your assertion that you've never seen a "carelessly" thrown bat on a 90-foot field have moved me to reply.
First, some history: The NFHS adopted this rule in 1987. Here's the rationale and the two casebook plays offered us that year:
Rule 3-3-1a: A Team Warning Shall Be Issued for a Carelessly Thrown Bat. The rule is designed to prevent injury caused by a player, coach, substitute or attendant manager, statistician, batboy, batgirl or trainer who carelessly throws a bat. The rule applies to the team at bat or the defensive team, depending upon who commits the infraction. If the umpire judges a player to have carelessly thrown a bat, the umpire shall issue a team warning to the head coach of that player's team which shall result in the next offender on that team being ejected.
Play 1: With Team B at bat (a) B1 receives ball four and on his way to first base, B1 carelessly flips the bat toward his bench almost hitting the on-deck batter, or (b) after hitting a ground ball to F5, B1 flips the bat behind him as he begins his advance to first base and the bat strikes F2, or (c) Fl, while backing up home plate picks up a bat and tosses it out of the way, but in doing so almost hits the plate umpire.
Ruling: In (a), (b) and (c) the umpire
must [my emphasis] issue a team warning to the head coach of the player committing the infraction.
Play 2: During the third inning, B1 carelessly throws a bat, which results in the umpire issuing a team warning. In the seventh inning the pitcher from the team having received the team warning carelessly throws a bat that nearly hits the bat boy.
Ruling: The umpire
shall [my emphasis] eject the pitcher since his team had been warned previously.
Play 1, now styled 3.3.1 SITUATION Q, still exists in the casebook. Play 2 disappeared in 1990. Those plays amply illustrate the FED definition of "carelessly thrown." CB: It is disingenuous to claim you're never seen a batter throw a bat that hit the catcher - or you.
In a tape called "Do's, Don'ts, and You'd Betters" (Referee Enterprises, 1989) I said that anyone who fails to enforce
every safety rule had better have deep pockets.
I was on a high school field in 1991 when the batter carelessly threw his bat and hit the on-deck batter, sending him to the hospital with teeth missing and lacerated lips. After the assistant coach left with the injured player, I issued a team warning. "You're kidding, right?" was the coach's reaction. My reply: "After that incident, I couldn't be more serious."
I find it both amusing and harrowing that an umpire will to his dying breath enforce the "
both-hands-moving-in-the-windup-means-the-start-of-a-pitch" rule and yet ignore the far more serious infraction of careless bat throwing.
I have five or six team warnings a season. Last year, I ejected one player, whose teammate had been the first to carelessly throw the bat. The coach declared that was hard cheese - or words to that effect.
Tee: After your epiphany on the road to Indianapolis, how can you not embrace this rule?
CB: The
American Heritage Dictionary lists "inadvertent" as a synonym of "careless."