I took your advice...

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

I was BU today...my PU had a pitch 1-2 count and the hitter swings and misses but the pitch hits the batter in the foot. B-R runs to 1B and R1 sprints for 2B (The pitch is a WP) and the Defensive coach screams "hey, he's out at 1B" by partner says...yep, he's out at 1B...FED rules(but I think it applies in all threads)...R1 advanced to 2B...anyway...runner doesn't score...between innings I tell PU..."are you sure R1 can advance on a ball that hits B on strike 3?" He says, yep, the ball is live... I say... "are you sure? a pitched ball that hits a batter is live?" He says...I think you're right...why didn't you call me in to let me know...I say..."I didn't want to show you up..." Did I do okay here...or should I have stepped in and told him the correct rule and returned the runner to 1B???

Thanks guys...

The call on R1 is *your call*. You should have put him back. This is not "showing up" PU.

[David B]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

The call on R1 is *your call*. You should have put him back. This is not "showing up" PU.

Exactly. You saw the ball hit the batter, you should have a dead ball just as well as the PU. Similiar to a ball that hits the batters foot etc.,

Even if PU doesn't call it, you can and should.

Thanks
David

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by David B

Exactly. You saw the ball hit the batter, you should have a dead ball just as well as the PU. Similiar to a ball that hits the batters foot etc.,

Even if PU doesn't call it, you can and should.

Thanks
David

I can see your point ... but BU is 100 feet away, and PU didn't kill the play from 3 feet away. As BU, unless I was POSITIVE the ball hit the batter, I'd be hard pressed to kill the play immediately. I guarantee I'd be asking my partner what he saw when the play ended, as stated above... but the WORST thing we can do is kill a live ball - so I'd err on the side of fixing this one afterward.

[johnnyg08]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

I can see your point ... but BU is 100 feet away, and PU didn't kill the play from 3 feet away. As BU, unless I was POSITIVE the ball hit the batter, I'd be hard pressed to kill the play immediately. I guarantee I'd be asking my partner what he saw when the play ended, as stated above... but the WORST thing we can do is kill a live ball - so I'd err on the side of fixing this one afterward.

Those were my thoughts 100% (except for the fact that at the time, I didn't fix the play)...I was not 100% sure that it hit him from where I was...That being said, I was 99.99999% sure but I did not want to kill a live ball...but PU was 3 feet away from him...we talked about it post game...in hindsight, I probably should've conferred w/ my partner and got it right at the time of the play...thank the baseball gods that it didn't make a difference in the game (no run scored)...but it was weird...I felt like I was the only guy in the park who knew that rule and by saying that, I'm not patting myself on the back...I just expected the defensive coach to come unglued! What am I saying??...that would be implying that all coaches know the rules... This coach is actually a really nice guy though...

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

Those were my thoughts 100% (except for the fact that at the time, I didn't fix the play)...I was not 100% sure that it hit him from where I was...That being said, I was 99.99999% sure but I did not want to kill a live ball...but PU was 3 feet away from him...

I have no problem with you *not* killing the play whent he ball hit the batter. If you had killed it and this had been the .00001% of the time that the ball didn't hit him, you would have had a tougher decision.

Once PU called the batter out, though, then you know that the ball hit the batter (or, at least, was ruled such). Then, you should have put R1 back on first.

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Once PU called the batter out, though, then you know that the ball hit the batter (or, at least, was ruled such).

Actually ... he doesn't know that at all. Batter was out for striking out (and can't advance with a runner on 1st). The out had nothing to do with whether the ball hit the batter or not.

But I do agree that if he was in doubt, and thought the ball had hit the batter, he should go check with PU and then have PU send the runner back due to the dead ball.

[johnnyg08]

all great points fellas...fortunately there wasn't any rhubarb in this game...but to a couple points on here...I'm not going to kill a play (in this sitch) unless I am 100% sure that a pitched ball hit the batter...I'm too far away (approx 100 ft from home) to be 99% sure and kill the play...PU...if he can't see it...can certainly hear if the ball hit him...we could've handled this differently, I agree...but everything worked out so fortunately it's not a big deal

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

Actually ... he doesn't know that at all. Batter was out for striking out (and can't advance with a runner on 1st). The out had nothing to do with whether the ball hit the batter or not.

Doh!

IAAFI.

[shickenbottom]

These types of situations are one thing you want to make sure both you and your partner are on the same page.

With that said, you should review during pregame that any time a pitched ball hits the batter while they are in the box, your response in the field will be "Time." Some officials will call "Dead Ball", but "Time" generally freezes everyone. After my partner says dead ball, I usually remove my hat, put it across my chest and look down for a moment of rembrance for the dead ball.

This includes batted balls that go off the batter. If your partner wants you to wait a moment to give him a chance to make the call, then kill the play. If any official takes offense to his partner killing the play, the official needs an attitude adjustment.