Quote:
|
Originally Posted by CoachJM
zanzibar,
The rules (both FED and OBR) are curiously mute regarding the criteria an umpire should use to judge whether an aborted swing attempt constitutes an offer.
Ultimately, the umpire uses his own judgement to determine whether or not the aborted swing constitutes an "offer".
JM
|
What coach said is the basic element that the umpire has to use.
In looking at my books there are a few guidelines:
FED - If the batter carreis the barrel of the bat past his body, but final decision is "whether the batter struck at the ball"
NCAA - they list if barrel of bat crosses a) front edge of the plate or b) the batters front hip (of course these don't apply if batter is in front of the box through)
OBR - nothing else
I believe its Evans who added that just because the barrel of the bat breaks the plane of the plate that its to be ruled a strike.
Thanks
David