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Originally Posted by jwwashburn
I had a play on Friday here at the USSSA in St Louis.
With a runner on First, the batter pretneds to be faking a bunt and brings the bat back in a manner to interfere with the catcher trying to catch the pitch and throw out the runner.
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How do you pretend to fake a bunt?
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I have seen it many times before but, in this case, the batter actually hit the catcher's glove. Since, in my judegement, the batter was making no effort to hit the pitch and only trying to hinder the catcher, I called her out for interference and sent the runner back to first.
My partner was the UIC who said I nailed it.
My question is this: what sort of line do you draw in your mind on when this is interference?
Joe in Missouri
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Unless the batter was standing at the back of the box, what is the catcher doing stepping up out of the catcher's box to catch a pitch?
I have no problem with your call if you judged the batter's purpose was to interfere with the catcher. Personally, I would have to be damn sure that was the case if I'm behind the plate.
It isn't unusual, at least in my mind, for a batter to pull back a bat and then slap at the ball. Just because a batter was showing bunt and then draws the bat back doesn't mean s/he cannot still attempt to hit the ball. And it certainly doesn't give the catcher a right of way to step up.