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Originally Posted by TwoBits
Anyway, how do some of you other umpires handle coaches who insist on this, and some of you more knowledgeable coaches hand umpires who still believe this?
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It depends.
Are you trying to explain this to a coach during a game or over a cold one?
If it's during a game there really should be no trying to explain.
"Coach the ball hit the batter, it was not a strike, he gets first."
We're not out there to give rule seminars during the game.
However, since it is a rules interp issue the coach has the right to question us on this so if he insists I'll say something like "Coach, I understand what you're saying and I can tell you that this is an often misunderstood rule, the hands are part of the batter not the bat."
After this I'm not allowing anymore insisting.
The coach is not using rule book references and neither am I. I'm not going to go on the defensive and try to prove my position. My position is the default position, the coach would have to prove his position with rule book references (which in this case he obviously cannot) not vice versa.
If it's over a cold one I still doubt if I would spoon feed him rules. Challenge him to find a rule that proves his assertion, maybe that will get him to open the book.
Afterall, he's still just a coach and your interp is the only one that matters. Let him attempt to change your mind