Bunt hits batter!!!

[DG]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

Bob,

That certainly is what it says. Is it your belief that this is how FED wants this called, or simply a poorly worded case play that does not reflect how this should be called in FED?

JM

Forget FED, how would this call be made in OBR? Refer to my "cut to the chase" example.

[UmpJM]

DG,

I am quite confident about how this would be properly ruled in an OBR-based game - and that's how I would be inclined to rule.

However, I am now working FED-based games, and I'd just like to know what is proper in that context.

The case play in question suggests that different criteria be used, given the same situation, in ruling on the play.

I don't know if this is just another example of poorly-worded FED documentation, or if they really want it called that way.

I believe that I should call the game according to the rules that the game is being played under - not in a "rulebook lawyer" way, but properly and according to the spirit and intent of the rules. Regardless of my personal opinion as to whether it's a "good" rule, or one authored by someone who has never even seen a baseball game before. If I recall correctly, you hold the same opinion in this regard.

I don't know what is proper in this situation, and I am unsure of the intent of the rule - in FED. I didn't even know I didn't know that until this thread popped up.

So, my question is: Does the FED Case Play really mean what it implies?

JM

[DG]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

I am quite confident about how this would be properly ruled in an OBR-based game - and that's how I would be inclined to rule.

However, I am now working FED-based games, and I'd just like to know what is proper in that context.

So what is the ruling in OBR game, and what is the proper interp to cover it?

I have always ruled a batter out for making contact with a ball in front of the plate while exiting the box and I have never had an argument about it. I don't see how having one foot in the box and the other foot in contact with a batted ball in live ball territory (not in the box part of LBT) in front of the plate is anything but an out.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by DG

So what is the ruling in OBR game, and what is the proper interp to cover it?

I have always ruled a batter out for making contact with a ball in front of the plate while exiting the box and I have never had an argument about it. I don't see how having one foot in the box and the other foot in contact with a batted ball in live ball territory (not in the box part of LBT) in front of the plate is anything but an out.

I just saw the perfect example of this in tonight's Padres vs. Rockies game. Jerry Crawford was the PU, and the Rockies batter bunted the ball, the ball ricocheted straight up into him while he had already taken a step out of the box, and nearly had stepped out with his back foot at the time the ball hit him. The call . . . foul, of course.

Making contact with a batted ball while one foot remains in the box has always been called a foul ball. It is not the same thing as batting a ball with one foot out of the box.

[SAump]

Bunt hits batter, foul ball. Batter/runner hits bunt, out.
If the ball is rolling on the ground, the batter would not be protected by the batter's box.
The catcher would also have the right to make the play without the interference.
Saw a fine example in Baylor game on Fox Southwest Sports promo yesterday.

[DG]

I sent an email to Dick Runchy and Kyle McNeely with this question:

"Batter bunts a ball and it is in fair territory directly in front of the plate and as batter is exiting the box, one foot still in the box, he makes contact with the ball that is in front of the plate. The ball is not in the batters box, it is in fair territory in front of the plate.

Foul ball or batter out for contacting a batted ball in LBT?"

Runchy says: "If it happens immediately, call it a foul ball, batter still in the box."

McNeely says: "For it to be a foul ball, the ball must contact the batter while the batter is in the batter's box. Here the contact is made outside the batter's box. The ball is dead and the batter-runner is out."

[SanDiegoSteve]

Runchy is right, and McNeely is reading it in a different context than we were discussing. We are talking about the ball bouncing up into the batter immediately after he bunts it. We aren't talking about him running into the ball which is rolling or simply lying on the ground. You said "he makes contact with the ball." That is not the same as "the ball bounces up and hits the batter-runner as he's leaving the box." Had you worded it that way, I'm pretty sure that McNeely would have responded just as Runchy did.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by DG

I sent an email to Dick Runchy and Kyle McNeely with this question:

"Batter bunts a ball and it is in fair territory directly in front of the plate and as batter is exiting the box, one foot still in the box, he makes contact with the ball that is in front of the plate. The ball is not in the batters box, it is in fair territory in front of the plate.

Foul ball or batter out for contacting a batted ball in LBT?"

Runchy says: "If it happens immediately, call it a foul ball, batter still in the box."

McNeely says: "For it to be a foul ball, the ball must contact the batter while the batter is in the batter's box. Here the contact is made outside the batter's box. The ball is dead and the batter-runner is out."

McNeely's ruling seems consistent with the wording in the FED case book.