Checked Swing
 

I have a question concerning a checked swing. When is a checked swing a strike? Is it when the barrel of the bat passes the front of the plate, or when the hands on the handle pass the front of the plate? In a game the other day, we had a batter check his swing by turning his shoulders. The barrel of the bat never passed the front of the plate, but the hands did. He called it a strike, and I was in position C, so I couldn't tell one way or another. I looked in both the rule and case book and couldn't find anythng on it. I just want to make the right call if this situation should happen again.

mcarr,

A checked swing is considered a strike when the umpire judges that the batter offered at the pitch.

JM

Other than in NCAA rules, the actual position of the bat is not how check swings are judged. The main criteria an umpire uses in making this decision is "did the batter make an attempt" or "did he control the bat, and not make an attempt, in fact checking his swing."

NCAA has other criteria, on which I will let the NCAA "rules mavens" comment.

CoachJM nailed it! We decide if the batter offered, not where the barrel or the hands are.

Also, what do you mean you were in "C" and couldn't tell one way or the other? An umpire should be able to call from anywhere on the field... even from the stands! :eek:

I know that when I was coaching I could easily make this call on a RHB from the 3B dugout. ;)

JM

Sometimes it's harder to make from your new perspective, isn't it?

A checked swing is a ball. An unsuccessful checked swing is a strike.

A batter who is trying to check his swing unsucessfully is NOT "offering", he is just too late.

A slow motion study was done of major league batters, and in a large majority of the cases what "appeared" to be a checked swing was not, if you consider a bat crossing the plate to be a swing. So if major league batters can't stop a swing, why should we think a HS player can?

My rule of thumb is that if any part of the bat was at any time over the plate, it's a strike.

Bunts are different so don't confuse the subject. You can have a bat over the plate and it not be a strike.

They always attempted, until in mid-swing they changed their mind. The question is, did they wait too late to change their mind?

Steve,

It's certainly different. For some reason, this one hasn't given me much difficulty yet (as far as I know :rolleyes: ).

JM