F1 moving his glove to give the signals again

[GarthB]

Originally posted by officialtony

GarthB,
If you meant 7-3-6, that is not the rule I would reference for ejecting a player who throws his bat in the context to which I made reference. It does not happen very often ( obviously ), but I have had it happen twice in the last three years. It was lower level travel ball in the summer. This was a batter who let his bat fly after hitting the ball during an at bat. It was not a thrown bat in the sense there was a confrontation with someone and the bat was thrown AT somebody. The first time it was thrown, it rang the poles of the backstop about 10 feet away from the ondeck circle. I issued a warning to the batter and advised the coach. Next at bat, he let his bat go and it hit the inside of my right foot. After the play was over, I ejected the batter/runner.
It may be a stretch to some, but if I had to justify it, I would probably use 3-3-1m. Although that says " deliberately ", if I have warned a batter to hold on to his bat and he lets it fly anyway, I construe that as deliberate. This probably would not be the issue for me that it is, but personal experience has guided my thought on this. Remember, my humble opinion.

Of course, I'm sorry, I had forgotten 3-3-1m, I guess that shows how much I use it.

[LDUB]

Originally posted by officialtony
GarthB,
If you meant 7-3-6, that is not the rule I would reference for ejecting a player who throws his bat in the context to which I made reference. It does not happen very often ( obviously ), but I have had it happen twice in the last three years. It was lower level travel ball in the summer. This was a batter who let his bat fly after hitting the ball during an at bat. It was not a thrown bat in the sense there was a confrontation with someone and the bat was thrown AT somebody. The first time it was thrown, it rang the poles of the backstop about 10 feet away from the ondeck circle. I issued a warning to the batter and advised the coach. Next at bat, he let his bat go and it hit the inside of my right foot. After the play was over, I ejected the batter/runner.
It may be a stretch to some, but if I had to justify it, I would probably use 3-3-1m. Although that says " deliberately ", if I have warned a batter to hold on to his bat and he lets it fly anyway, I construe that as deliberate. This probably would not be the issue for me that it is, but personal experience has guided my thought on this. Remember, my humble opinion.

Tony and Garth, both of you are off. 3-3-1m deals with when a batter gets mad and throws hit bat in disgust. I don't think that is what Tony has described. 3-3-1b deals with players who carelessly throw bats. This is a warn then eject situation.

[GarthB]

Thanks, Luke. I don't have my books with me and I don't believe I've had to make that call in over 20 years.

[officialtony]

Luke,
You are 100%, absolutely, right on the money correct. I don't know how I missed it. But there it is. 3-3-1b . . "carelessly throw a bat; ". The only two times I exercised that rule, I was not challenged. Both coaches knew I was right in ejecting. So I didn't have to cite the rule supporting my decision. But there it is. I stand corrected and appreciate your input. I know others do not endorse my opinion on this, which is OK. I respect their right to officiate in their own manner.
As long as I can cite the rule if needed, I feel strongly about this, as I indicated earlier. Again, my humble opinion.

Sidenote: the two cases where I ejected were not just casual tosses of the bat. They were violent releases to live ball areas. There were many other instances where bats being " carelessly thrown " were ignored because I did not feel danger was an issue or the throw of the bat was severe enough to invoke an ejection.