Quote:
Originally posted by JEL
Quote:
Originally posted by cjs
At a recent game, players were squared to bunt. They never pulled the bat back. When I asked the umpire what the call was, he said that they could square to bunt and as long as they did not attempt to bunt the ball it was not a strike. My thought was that when they squared and put the bat over the plate that that was an attempt. He said, No. If that is right, why do coaches tell the players to pull the bat back??
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cjs,
Welcome to the board.
Although in most levels of softbal (FP) the mere holding of the bat in the strike zone is not to be considered an attempt at a bunt, in baseball and NCAA softball the holding of the bat in the zone is considered a strike.
The coaches are either prepping the girls for NCAA, or maybe baseball!
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I can't speak for NCAA softball, but it is *not* true that the mere holding of the bat over the plate in baseball is considered a strike. The ONLY criteria in baseball as to whether a pitch is considered a "swinging strike" is if the batter "offered" at the ball. That's it. It is completely umpire judgment as to what constitutes "offering".
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And to the other poster - the REASON coaches teach batters to pull their bat back on a bunt attempt is so the umpire will not be tempted to call it a strike. Once the batter has made the decision *not* to bunt the ball, it simply makes no sense to keep your bat hanging out over the plate. Despite the fact that there is no rule that makes it an automatic strike, it often *will* be called a strike, nonetheless.
The umpire is not going to give much latitude to a batter who holds their bat out over the plate, and it's a very rare call to NOT call it a strike although their is no rule requiring it. The batter pulls the bat back to "sell" the fact that they are not offering at the ball.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN