Quote:
Originally Posted by MD Longhorn
Unless you're working Little League Baseball ... or your local league has a rule regarding thrown bats ...
THERE IS NO RULES JUSTIFICATION for anything being discussed here when a bat is thrown carelessly. No restrict to bench. No warning. No eject the next guy who does it. Nothing.
I know most of us WANT there to be something to let us inflict revenge on the guy that dented our shinguards (or worse, the catcher's). But there isn't.
(If the thrown bat interferes with play, by all means follow that rule - but even there, no RTB or ejection is applicable).
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Actually your words will be justification to handle this situation.
As you stated, there is no rules justification to handle this in any way.
Rule 10-1 Power and Duties
.... "The plate umpire shall have the authority to make decisions on any situations not specifically covered in these rules" ....
Rule supplement 52 covers
1) a bat thrown in anger
2) a bat that slips from a players hands
3) a batter-runner carrying a bat.
This rule does not cover a bat which does not slip from a batters hands, but is careless discarded by the batter. Therefore an umpire could apply the portion of rule 10-1 as this is not specifically covered in the rules.
Now in a practical sense. The first time the bat comes back and hits myself or the catcher, I would think the bat slipped from the catchers hands, and therefore unless it interferes with play, no penalty would be issued. The second time it happens, it is much less likely to have slipped from the batters hands (under normal circumstances). If it happens a third, fourth or fifth time in a game, then I would seriously question if this was not in fact an intentional act, and could handle this under rule 10-1, since a carelessly discarded bat is not specifically covered under the rules.