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Originally Posted by Four Seam
In many years of coaching at all levels and venues, I can't recall ever having seen an umpire inspect a bat when a batter comes up to bat. What I have seen, of course, is umpires inspecting the bats on the bat racks before the games. And I have thought to myself, what if, during the game, a batter brings her own bat in from her bag and goes up to bat with it, which on some teams could be almost every batter? That bat might be a banned bat, but it will probably not be looked at by the umpire. What is an umpire expected to do to enforce the rule?
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I don't "inspect" them as they come up to bat, but I am taking a look at the bat when the batters step in. If it's a bat that I don't recognize as being checked during the pre-game, then unless I immediately recognize the bat as being on/off the list, I will hold the pitch and take a look at it. I do mostly rec ball, and players show up late. If the player with the unknown bat showed up late and the bat's non-approved, then I'll cut them some slack and say, "You just got here? Let me check that bat. Hmm... This one was banned. Go get another."
I've even had some players show up late with non-approved bats and ask me to look at it as they approach the box for their first at-bat. I greatly appreciate their honesty, and I'll tell them to get another bat without penalty.
Yeah, I know what the rule says, but this is rec ball, and I'm willing to be reasonable.
