Quote:
|
Originally Posted by wadeintothem
I see what you are saying.. but you gotta make the call. If you are working a 12U rec league game, you can probably get away with not calling it.. if you are working 18G, the rules essentially require a thinking batter. He/she must not discard their bat in a manner that interferes with defense. If she taps the ball in front of the plate then discards the bat in a manner that interferes with F2 (say right in front of the plate as well) and you dont make the call, you are not applying the rules. There are no rules that says the batter must discard the bat in front of the plate. In fact, they dont have to discard it at all.
|
In my scenario (ball tapped in front of the plate), I'm not saying that the batter throws the bat at the catcher. She simply drops it in a location where it is between the catcher and the ball. The catcher springs from her position, pursues the ball in front of the plate, and trips over the bat.
I would say that it is perfectly reasonable for the batter to immediately discard her bat - even if it's in the vicinity of the plate. I certainly wouldn't require the batter to hold on to the bat for fear that she might place it somewhere that is inconvenient for the defense.
I would also say that the catcher must be aware of this and find a way to retrieve the ball without stumbling over the bat.
Again, I would base the ruling on whether the batter did something normal, reasonable, and unintentional.
Tossing the bat a great distance is not normal.
Tossing the bat in a direction that is unreasonable is not normal.
Holding on to the bat, THEN tossing it in the direction of the catcher would cause me to conclude that it was intentional - no matter how good of an acting job the batter did.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN