First game of season

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by mbyron

We talked about the play after the game, and my partner asked whether I thought that the batter might have been late swinging, and just trying to hit the mitt. "How late is too late?" he asked. I said, "that's the PU's judgment: we have to judge whether he's swinging at the pitch."

I don't think "too late" would occur while the pitch is a pitch and it might not be "too late" even after it is no longer a pitch if the catcher has reached forward.

I have typed and deleted and typed and deteled trying to quantify "too late". I started with "until it hits the mitt", then moved to "until possessed by the catcher", and finally stopped with "until the catcher moves forward to throw", but decided none of them were correct.

I love the way your phrased it. We do have to judge whether he is swinging at the pitch or the mitt. Unless it is obvious to everyone in the park, I would be extremely reluctant to judge he was not swinging at the pitch. Just as a fielder has absolute protection while in the act of fielding, I look at a batter as having an absolute right to attempt to hit a pitch.