Asking BU on a Check Swing

[Dave Reed]

Since there seems to some variance in opinion, here is what the MLBUM says:
8.7 "VOLUNTARY STRIKE"
In the situation where the third strike eludes the catcher on a half-swing and the batter-runner is entitled to run to first base, the appeal should be made to the base umpire instantly (without waiting for a request from the defense); but even if the appeal is not instant, the appropriate base umpire should immediately and voluntarily make a call of strike IF the base umpire is going to reverse the plate umpire's call. This will give the batter the immediate opportunity to run.

[Bolding, caps, and quotation marks copied from MLBUM.]

[PeteBooth]

Dave that's what the manual says but in all my years of watching PRO ball I have yet to see a BU ON HIS OWN make a call of strike on the play presented.

I know the Doug Eddings play in the ACLS years back was a little different but no other umpire "piped-up" during that fiasco.

It's like many things in life - meaning there is a manual and then there is actual practice.

Pete Booth

[Dave Reed]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

Dave that's what the manual says but in all my years of watching PRO ball I have yet to see a BU ON HIS OWN make a call of strike on the play presented.

Unless you are very different than most people (even umpires) you wouldn't be looking at BU on a checked swing uncaught third strike. That's not where the action or the ball is. And if you are dependent on TV to show you a volunteer call by BU, you'll never see it.

Eddings? You mean with A. J. Piersynski getting to first? Eddings called a strike immediately, behind the plate. That's more than a little different. Why do you think the BU should have piped up?

I don't know how long this ruling has been in the book, but it's not very many years. I expect recent rulings to be more strictly followed than old ones, so I expect that BU usually does, in practice, make the call.

[johnnyg08]

Originally Posted by Dave Reed

Unless you are very different than most people (even umpires) you wouldn't be looking at BU on a checked swing uncaught third strike. That's not where the action or the ball is. And if you are dependent on TV to show you a volunteer call by BU, you'll never see it.

Eddings? You mean with A. J. Piersynski getting to first? Eddings called a strike immediately, behind the plate. That's more than a little different. Why do you think the BU should have piped up?

I don't know how long this ruling has been in the book, but it's not very many years. I expect recent rulings to be more strictly followed than old ones, so I expect that BU usually does, in practice, make the call.

I was reading through the MLBUM (2007) last night and came across the "Voluntary Strike" provision on strike three. Umps are instructed on an appealable third strike to immediately signal the "yes he went" mechanic w/o even being asked by PU if PU has called "ball" so the B/R knows to run right away

I kind of like that provision/mechanic...even though it contradicts other aspects of the rule interps that state that the players/coaches are responsible for knowing certain rules/scenarios..for example an IFF inadvertently called by umpires in an incorrect situation or an IFF not called in a correct situation.

Are other associations adopting this Voluntary Strike mechanic in other rule sets?

[Tim C]

As I have noted on this (and other umpire sites):

Any umpire that intones that an umpire working "inside" cannot call a checked/unchecked swing either does not understand the rule or does not have enough guts to make the call.

Same goes for the times when, in the two umpire system, that an umpire is not in the "open" side of the hitter.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Tim C

As I have noted on this (and other umpire sites):

Any umpire that intones that an umpire working "inside" cannot call a checked/unchecked swing either does not understand the rule or does not have enough guts to make the call.

Same goes for the times when, in the two umpire system, that an umpire is not in the "open" side of the hitter.

Amen! This should be the final word on this particular subject, again.