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SDS and PWL - in answering these, I'm sure we are supposed to assume this was a legitimate attempt to hit the ball. Pitch is outside, batter swinging, bat comes out as he tries to reach it.
I guarantee you that if you throw your bat AT the catcher (or are not making an obvious attempt to hit the ball), you won't get CI, and might get tossed. If it was not a legitimate attempt to hit the ball (even if the release of the bat was intentional, it must be done in effort to HIT THE BALL), then none of these rulings apply.
For me to picture this - batter swinging and reaching on an outside pitch, and the bat comes out of his hands while he's trying to hit the ball - if the catcher is far enough forward that the bat hits the catcher's mitt before the ball arrives, then the catcher has come too far forward and is clearly guilty of CI (CO).
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"Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Christy Mathewson
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