|
Originally posted by Jackie W.
I haven't looked this one up yet(don't worry, I promise I will). An umpire told me of a situation where a batter hit a ball by throwing his bat at it as it crossed the plate. In other words, the bat was not in his hands when it made contact with the ball. He ruled it legal. It sounds fishy to me, but I'm not sure. Ever heard of this before?
Jackie, the rules refer to the term batted Ball when defining a base hit, Fair/Foul etc. It doesn't say batted ball with batter holding onto bat. As long as the act of throwing the bat at the ball does not interfere with a play or attempted play it is legal.
One sees this all the time on a hit and run, when the defense guessed right and a pitch out has been called. Many times the batter will throw the bat at the ball to protect R1.
Pete Booth
__________________
Peter M. Booth
|