Batter out of the box...

Originally Posted by lawump

This is all but ignored on the professional level...unless its really, really blatant.

Now, as an amateur umpire, I don't even begin to think about calling it unless I'm getting complaints, or there is a very, very blatant violation (i.e. a batter clearly runs well outside of the box in an attempt to bunt a pitched ball).

Don't go looking for these calls, IMO. That's how I handle it.

Wouldn't you say if one foot is completely out of the batter's box that it's blatant - or the batter is stepping on home plate? It's an easy one to ignore, but come tournament time, what are you going to do? Nobody goes looking for them, but what usually happens is that the batter is standing on the inside edge and his natural motion carries him out. That's when I start to watch. Usually you'll catch it on bunt situations. The thing is you can't not call it if you see it unless you want to claim ignorance of the situation to the opposing coach. Then you are favoring the offending team IMHO