Quote:
Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
You mean like the defense doing the same thing for the same reason?
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But the defense has the fundamental right to decide when/if to field a batted ball. Batters and runners don't have that right.
The only purpose a batter or runner would touch a foul ball that appears is going fair is to intentionally keep the batter or runner from being in jeopardy of being retired. There is ample precedent in all the rules of all sanctioning baseball and softball organizations that batters and runners are not allowed to do that other than by legally batting the ball and legally running the bases. As far as I know, ASA is alone in this stand.
Why do the rule sets call a batter out when she bunts a pitch foul with two strikes? It's because she is not allowed to intentionally (and bunts are
intentional taps) keep herself up to the plate until she finally gets a pitch she really likes. The original rulesmakers felt that purposely fouling off pitches by bunting them gave the offense an unfair advantage. To maintain balance between offense and defense, those rulesmakers felt the batter with two strikes should put the ball in play. If she fails to do so with a full swing and fouls it off, she's given the benefit of the doubt. But those rulesmakers felt that if foul bunts with two strikes weren't regulated, batters would tip that balance.
Oh well, I will respect ASA's position on this, but I obviously don't like it.
