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Originally Posted by SRW
If a ball hit the ground, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to the batter. The batter has every right to expect the ball to be pitched in or around the strike zone and not hit the dirt. If that ball hit the dirt then hit the batter, chances are 99 times out of 100 that the batter's going to be awarded 1B when I'm working the dish. They have no idea where that ball is gonna go once it hits the ground, so they're gonna get 1B.
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I would go even further than that. The batter has no chance to know how to avoid a bounding ball; in fact, the safest chance is to stay still. If they stand still (freeze), or move in any direction, they sufficiently attempted to avoid, in my judgment. The only exceptions might be a dribbler that any fool could move away from, or a non-slapper moving forward (toward the pitcher) to be hit.