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Originally Posted by hawk65
The discussion of "protecting the runner" and/or "interference" is a red herring and a hijacking of the original post. In the OP, there is no mention of runners or interference -- the issue is the batter swinging the bat twice through the zone in the time between the moment the ball leaves the pitcher's hand and until it is struck by the batter on her second swing thru the zone after swinging it around her back. Suppose a coach tells the batter to swing at anything and miss in order to make an out and speed the game along. The batter swings the moment it leaves the pitcher's hand, completes her swing then stands there as the ball passes her and the plate (and it doesn't matter whether the ball passed the plate in the strike zone or bounced or was over the catcher's head). Would you rule that it wasn't a strike because she didn't swing "at" the ball or didn't make any attempt to hit the ball? Are you going to rule it was "bat waggling" and ignore the swing?
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If it was that far off, I probably would call it a non-swing. I doubt I was privy to the conversation. And this sounds like bat-waggling to me. I think we're REALLY stretching the point now to try to prove a negative ... but if you have to go this far, I'll go with you.
Point is - if someone tries to hit the ball or swings at approximately the same time the pitch comes through, it's an attempt. Random motions of the bat at other times is not. Don't try to make it harder than it is.