Advice needed on "Hands part of the bat" myth

[johnnyg08]

Guys,

I had my first "hands are part of the bat" strike three today. Batter swung, the ball went into foul territory, batter was back in his on deck circile in obvious pain. The pitcher was throwing gas -- mid 80's is gas in my neck of the woods. I thought about it for a bit, then called him out on strikes...then from the fans in the stands -- one voice I recognized as a former MN Twin says in a normal voice but loud enough for me to hear it "blue, the hands are part of the bat, that's a foul ball" Then I was probably a bit more of a smarty pants when I said "do you take your bat out to the field with you?" Then he said that "I need to read a rule book. (that was the best part) I just grinned and walked away..internally, it always feels good to get those calls right.

I probably didn't need to use that line since the both teams were actually pretty classy teams, but they are very competitive. So I can add a "hands are part of the bat' story to my jounal. I was getting a bit jealous after hearing all of your other stories