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Originally Posted by BretMan
I had the game recorded, so had a chance to go back and run through this play several times.
- Batter comes forward in typical fashion for a slap hit.
- It looks like her left/rear foot is pretty darn close to the plate when it plants. But you can't really see the lines of the box to know for sure where the foot is planted. The video gave me no clear view of whether she really was in or out of the box.
- Bat contacts ball, ball goes straight down and on the upward bounce appears to graze the batter's left ankle.
- The batter's left foot was planted on the ground when she hit the ball and was still planted in the same spot when the ball hit her ankle.
So, if she really was out of the box, she was out at the moment of bat/ball contact. In other words, she didn't hit the ball, then step out, then get hit.
- Plate umpire came right out with: A strong dead-ball signal; He pointed at the ground near batter's box and said, "She's out of the box"; Then followed with an out signal.
- Batter's reaction was sort of telling. She didn't pause, look around or otherwise react other than just going straight to the dugout. She seemed to know she was out.
And, of course, the talking heads seemed oblivious to all that with their following comments.
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That's pretty much how I remember it but I hadn't noticed or even considered this part.
Quote:
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It looks like her left/rear foot is pretty darn close to the plate when it plants.
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Which could very well account for what the umpire was pointing at.
The Heads were talking about the catcher tagging the batter, which may be why that was what was recorded in the box score... but if that were the case, why would it be a dead ball.
I'm satisfied.....