Hit batter - Maybe not ?

[nickrego]

This was a first for me.

14-15 YRO Babe Ruth game.

Pitch comes in high and inside on the batter. Batter stands up straight and raises the bat above his head to let the ball pass under his arms. His sleeves are hanging and the ball hits his front sleeve.

I call time, point to 1st base and tell the batter to ‘take your base’.

The batter looks at me and says, “No it’s OK, it didn’t hit me.” I say “OK, batter says it didn’t hit him. Ball 3 to the batter !”

Offensive coach mildly goes off on the player. The player looks at me again, and I tell him he did the right thing being honest.

I know the ball hit his sleeve because I saw and heard it. But there is no way I am going to argue that it did hit him. After all, it is his body/uniform, and he should know if he was hit or not.

Batter was walked on the next pitch.

[nine01c]

The player's uniform IS a part of him (if being worn on his body). This was a HBP. This kid just wanted to stay at bat to hit the big home run or something. Age 15; not honesty, but more likely duping the umpire.

[Rich Ives]

If it hit him, it hit him. It's not a rule with options.

[DG]

Originally posted by nickrego
This was a first for me.

14-15 YRO Babe Ruth game.

Pitch comes in high and inside on the batter. Batter stands up straight and raises the bat above his head to let the ball pass under his arms. His sleeves are hanging and the ball hits his front sleeve.

I call time, point to 1st base and tell the batter to ‘take your base’.

The batter looks at me and says, “No it’s OK, it didn’t hit me.” I say “OK, batter says it didn’t hit him. Ball 3 to the batter !”

Offensive coach mildly goes off on the player. The player looks at me again, and I tell him he did the right thing being honest.

I know the ball hit his sleeve because I saw and heard it. But there is no way I am going to argue that it did hit him. After all, it is his body/uniform, and he should know if he was hit or not.

Batter was walked on the next pitch.

5.09a, if it hit's clothing it is a HBP.

[official88]

The Batter got one over on you. If you SAW it hit the batter, the batter should have been on first base.

[nickrego]

Thanks guys, but I do know that the uniform is part of the batter, otherwise I would not have indicated an HBP.

And I have been doing this long enough, and dealt with teenagers enough to know that this kid thought he was doing the right thing. He was also visibly shaken by his coach yelling at him for doing what he thought to be the right, ‘honest’ thing.

This game did not mean a thing as far as the league standings go because his team is at the bottom of the standings. They were behind 18 - 4, and there was no way ‘this’ player was going to hit the big hit.

What it did mean was that maybe a teenager got a little positive reinforcement for making the good choice and for trying to do the right thing. Something we don’t see very often these days. I deal with a lot of players who try to lie and cheat their way to an advantage, this was not one of those kids.

If this is what you call getting over on the umpire, then yep, he got over on me. And it was the highlight of my day.

[mcrowder]

Good point. If the team is in last place, the rules don't apply to them.

[scyguy]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Good point. If the team is in last place, the rules don't apply to them.

I am not sure what this means? Sounds like a stab at Nick. Not necessary in this case. Nick's judgement is sound. Of course we do not call games based on the team's standings, the score, etc. but Nick knows what he is doing. Good job Nick.

[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by nickrego

This was a first for me.

14-15 YRO Babe Ruth game.

Pitch comes in high and inside on the batter. Batter stands up straight and raises the bat above his head to let the ball pass under his arms. His sleeves are hanging and the ball hits his front sleeve.

I believe Babe Ruth plays by OBR but if played by FED rules, there is a provision for loose clothing.

FED rule 8-1-1d - EXCEPTION:

If a batter's loose garment, such as a shirt that is not worn properly, is touched by a pitched ball, the batter is not entitled to first base.

Based on your thread B1 would still be awarded first base UNLESS he was the only player that had hanging sleeves, in other words he was not in proper uniform.

Pete Booth

[nine01c]

Babe Ruth does not play FED rules.

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by PeteBooth
Originally posted by nickrego

This was a first for me.

14-15 YRO Babe Ruth game.

Pitch comes in high and inside on the batter. Batter stands up straight and raises the bat above his head to let the ball pass under his arms. His sleeves are hanging and the ball hits his front sleeve.

I believe Babe Ruth plays by OBR but if played by FED rules, there is a provision for loose clothing.

FED rule 8-1-1d - EXCEPTION:

If a batter's loose garment, such as a shirt that is not worn properly, is touched by a pitched ball, the batter is not entitled to first base.

Based on your thread B1 would still be awarded first base UNLESS he was the only player that had hanging sleeves, in other words he was not in proper uniform.

Pete Booth

Where in FED rules does it say that one player wiht "hanging" sleees is out of uniform or that the uniform is being worn "improperly?"

Award the batter first.

[Dave Hensley]

Originally posted by nickrego
The batter looks at me and says, “No it’s OK, it didn’t hit me.” I say “OK, batter says it didn’t hit him. Ball 3 to the batter !”

I think a better response would have been something like "I understand why you think it didn't hit you, son, because it just grazed your sleeve and you probably didn't feel it. But I saw it clearly - you attempted to avoid being hit but the pitch hit you, so you get first base. Now get along, little dogie."

[GarthB]

Originally posted by scyguy

I am not sure what this means? Sounds like a stab at Nick. Not necessary in this case. Nick's judgement is sound. Of course we do not call games based on the team's standings, the score, etc. but Nick knows what he is doing. Good job Nick.

Good job? Misapplying a rule is a good job?

I don't think so.

Even Nick admits he didn't know the rule.

(edit: Oops, sorry. I misread Nick's post. He does not admit he didn't know the rule. I guess he just decided not to enforce it.)

It's not the Challenger disaster, but it was still a mistake.

[Edited by GarthB on Jun 15th, 2004 at 02:36 PM]

[mcrowder]

Of course it was a stab at Nick. Not for the mistake on the rules (which he actually says he DID know), but for the justification for purposefully ignoring the rules. You know the rule, enforce it. Don't make the exception because this team was in last place, and this particular player wasn't likely to hit it out, and he seemed to be a very honest young man, and you admired it. ENFORCE THE DANG RULE!

[nickrego]

Gentlemen (and ladies if your using a masculine handle),

I am aware of the rules and I did not base what I did on the teams standings in the league.

Lets just chalk it up to a judgment error on my part. Second of two 3 hour games, and I will admit, although it is no excuse, that I was a little tired. I was kind of surprised myself that I did that, but what is done is done. I learn and move on.

Dave Hensley, thank you for your courteous and professional response.