Illegal action by the batter?

[dash_riprock]

I didn't intend to imply I would call the batter out. However, I would prefer to tell the coach that an intent to hit the ball is required to call the batter out, rather than "[name], you're right - his foot was out of the box, but it didn't touch the ground until just after the ball hit the bat."

[greymule]

I don't know whether this play has ever been discussed on this board, but I've long held it in the back of my mind as one where a good umpire will ignore the letter of the rule. I never posted the question, because I knew how I would call it—fair or foul, not out.

Nowhere in the rule book is "intent" mentioned, but the book cannot be considered all-encompassing. We cannot expect every possible play to fall neatly within the letter of the "law." There are times when we have to ask ourselves, "Is this even remotely what the rules makers had in mind when they wrote the rule?"