Illegal action by the batter?

[dash_riprock]

Pitcher lets one go wild over the batter's head. Batter turns to avoid it, and his entire foot is on the ground outside the batter's box when the ball hits his bat. Must an intent to hit the ball be present for the batter to be banged out?

[johnnyg08]

was the ball fair or foul? I wouldn't penalize the hitter for a pitch that he was trying to avoid by calling him out. If this happened to me, I have a fair ball or a foul ball...IMO you can't bang a batter out for attempting to get out of the way...I might penalize him for not being smart enough to drop the bat head :-)

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Pitcher lets one go wild over the batter's head. Batter turns to avoid it, and his entire foot is on the ground outside the batter's box when the ball hits his bat. Must an intent to hit the ball be present for the batter to be banged out?

You'd reward a major screw-up by the pitcher?

Just treat it as a batted ball - fair or foul as the case may be.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Pitcher lets one go wild over the batter's head. Batter turns to avoid it, and his entire foot is on the ground outside the batter's box when the ball hits his bat. Must an intent to hit the ball be present for the batter to be banged out?

Generally, yes (and in this specific case, yes). I'm sure someone can come up with a TWP where there's no intent and we still might have an out.

[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?"

[David B]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Pitcher lets one go wild over the batter's head. Batter turns to avoid it, and his entire foot is on the ground outside the batter's box when the ball hits his bat. Must an intent to hit the ball be present for the batter to be banged out?

I agree with Bob's answer, but simply ask the question which umpire would be looking to see if a foot is out of the box on a wild pitch over the batter's head. We're going to be watching to see if the ball hits the batter etc.,

Thansk
David

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by David B

I agree with Bob's answer, but simply ask the question which umpire would be looking to see if a foot is out of the box on a wild pitch over the batter's head. We're going to be watching to see if the ball hits the batter etc.,

Thansk
David

One eye on the ball, the other on the batter's foot. It's an advanced mechanic - simultaneous double monocular tracking. We have a couple of trained lizards teach it at our clinics.

[BretMan]

Careful. You might end up like this:

[dash_riprock]

Marty Feldman - Making the most of Graves Disease! RIP Marty.

[jicecone]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

One eye on the ball, the other on the batter's foot. It's an advanced mechanic - simultaneous double monocular tracking. We have a couple of trained lizards teach it at our clinics.

And your third eye on the catcher that is standing up in front of you to catch this pitch.

" Now here's a guy with nothing to do but make up TWP"s"

[kylejt]

Could you call him out? Sure, by rule you could.

Should you call him out? Not a chance.

"Sorry coach, I missed that".

[DG]

The box if 4 feet wide. How in the heck can he be out of the box while dodging a pitch. No way I call an out of the box out in this situation.

[UMP25]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Generally, yes (and in this specific case, yes). I'm sure someone can come up with a TWP where there's no intent and we still might have an out.

Except, Bob, that in this case, unless everybody on the field clearly saw his foot out of the box, I'd simply say, if asked, "What foot? I didn't see his foot out of the box."

Plausible deniability.