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Originally Posted by canadaump6
How do you guys deal with a batter who tosses his bat after making contact with the ball? Do you eject the unsafe player immediately, or give him a warning? My procedure has been to wait till the inning is over, then write the offending player's number on my lineup card, and tell the coach "player number xx is getting his warning for throwing the bat". If he does it again, player is ejected.
I had a coach challenge my way of handling this situation, who stated that there was no rule about not throwing the bat. I feel rule 9.01a is sufficient to cover the handling of an unsafe player- part of the umpire's job is to maintain order and discipline on the field.
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I take it that you are talking about a "carelessly" thrown bat. Tossing the bat after hitting the ball is never against the rules in OBR, which is the rule set under which you work, I believe. (unless you have a local or league rule prohibiting a "carelessly" thrown bat). Only under FED rules is there a proscribed penalty for a bat throwing infraction.
Since OBR makes no provision for throwing a bat, carelessly or otherwise, my question to you is why you are trying to enforce a non-existent rule? The coach who challenged you was correct to do so. If he said that there is no rule against tossing the bat away after hitting the ball, then he is right.
By the way, citing any 9.01 rule as justification of an on-field ruling is extremely weak, and shows a lack of understanding of the playing rules.