Some rules questions

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

1. When you bought the bat, were the hands included?

2. Hold the bat at arm's length. Let go of the bat. After the bat settles on the ground, do you see any hands attached to it?

If the answer to questions 1 & 2 is no, then the hands are not part of the bat.

Please feel free to use these two examples for any arguments about this subject.

Oz, as someone has pointed out here before, it's not always a matter of logic. Players aren't born with uniforms on either, but the "uniform is part of the player" for purposes of HBP. So why couldn't the hands be part of the bat?

Like so much of our beloved game, it's a matter of definition and custom rather than strict logic. And by definition (in baseball, not cricket), the hands are not part of the bat.