[SAump]

I don't care what type of bender the pitcher tosses up there. He can be throwing corners for all I care. He needs to avoid hitting the BATTER with them. I cannot rule on what its curvature coulda/shouda/woulda have been. If the batter is standing in the batter's box and gets plunked in the side/back by a curve ball that may have been a strike had he not been there; I would award the batter first base because he was there. If the batter is standing in the batter's box and he gets plunked in the upper arm by a curve ball that looks like it would have been a strike had he not been there; I would award the batter first base because he was there.

The batter is allowed to stand inside a box outside the strike zone and in front of the plate. The batter's front shoulder/arm is usually in most cases always above the strike zone. The batter's body is usually in most cases always out of the strike zone. The ball is dead upon impact. I can only make the call on the LOCATION of the pitch at the time of IMPACT. I can not look into the future to determine any other possible flightpaths. The ball did not cross into the strike zone because it HIT the BATTER who was standing where he should have been. There can be no determination made that it would have later crossed the strike zone. Did it hit the batter in the strike zone or were the batter's actions adjudged to be intentional?

But I know one casewriter who must be licking his chops about the Batter's UNINTENTIONALITY.