[soonerfan]

A ball is dead when a pitch hits any part of a batter or his clothing. We have that....

A strike is when a pitched ball crosses the plate between the batter's knees and half-way between his armpits and his belt in his natural batting stance, OR a batter attempts to make contact with the baseball with his bat. We have that...

So, in the dead ball situation, runner goes back to third and the batter has a strike. There is no foul ball, just a strike. The end.

As far as the 'ol hands are part of the bat...always a good laugh when I hear it. I had a friend pull a John Shulock type move. (See Cheer or Jeer forum.) He was working the plate at Wichita State and his pitcher hit a batter on the hand in a tight game, my friend sends him to first as he should. Gene Stevenson come out HOTT! "His hands are part of the bat!" My friend picks up the bat and drops it on the ground and says, "Oh **** Gene, I still have my hand." Gene just says dammit and goes away. Always a fun call, like tie goes to a runner. JT