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Originally Posted by NCASAUmp
By rule, yes, the batter was out of the box. However, by rule, the box was wrong, and had it been right, I know for a fact that his foot would have been in the box. Not out, not on the line, but in.
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No, the box is the box, don't care about the lines.
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Regardless, a good umpire will take steps to head this off at the pass. If the boxes are wrong, I let the teams know before the first pitch. If they're grossly wrong, I'll let them know AND wipe them out myself (making sure the field supervisor sees me doing it - maybe someday, he'll get the message).
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Why dirty your shoes? Tell the first batter that you would appreciate him wiping out the line so you will not be tempted to call him out. They will be more than happy to help you out.
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In the sitch presented, if I REALLY feel the batter isn't in the box, I'd just calmly tell them to step in. I rarely have any problems with calls for out of the box.
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I find this more often when a batter wants to put their toes right up against the plate. I ask them to move back and usually it is not an issue. And no, I don't measure it.