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In some ASA Men's SP leagues I work, there are a few players who throw their bats often. I give them a warning after the first time. The few times it's happened a second time, they are gone. As a younger umpire, who works these games alone, I am hustling out into the field around the RH batter's box to get into position as soon as the ball is hit, and these few players who throw their bat either do so right at me or at the F2.
In New Haven, CT, about a decade ago, a batter forcefully threw his bat in anger at having popped up. The handle end of the bat went through the chain-link backstop. Someone happened to be right there on the other side, with their face right against the fence. The bat went into the person's skull, and the person became a vegetable, because the batter threw their bat. Huge lawsuits were filed against everyone involved.
Now, the city rules are such that if someone throws a bat there at all, they are done playing for the season.
I don't tolerate any bat throwing, especially when the F2 get's hit, and they are the most vulnerable. There is no reason to allow any bat throwing.
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