Ignore or not

[umpire99]

After the inning the coach of the batting team told me that he teaches his players to casually drop the bat in the direction of the ball. He said that the bat often either hits the ball or hinders the F2 and that they never get called for interference.

Later in the same game, the same batter hit a ball down the left field line. I was tracking the ball, but found out later (from an evaluator in the stands) that the batter flung his bat toward the catcher as he left for first base. The catcher seemed to be a little shook up, but nobody ever brought it to my attention. The evaluator said it was obvious to him that it was intentional, but that I was doing the correct thing by looking at the ball as it went into left field.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by umpire99

After the inning the coach of the batting team told me that he teaches his players to casually drop the bat in the direction of the ball. He said that the bat often either hits the ball or hinders the F2 and that they never get called for interference.

The coach is a cheating rat, and the umpires who don't call Interference when the fielder is hindered are not doing their jobs properly.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

The coach is a cheating rat, and the umpires who don't call Interference when the fielder is hindered are not doing their jobs properly.

Steve, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for re-affirming my belief in basic common sense.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

The coach is a cheating rat

Steve,

You're the master of redundancy.

[SAump]

Originally Posted by umpire99

After the inning the coach of the batting team told me that he teaches his players to casually drop the bat in the direction of the ball. He said that the bat often either hits the ball or hinders the F2 and that they never get called for interference.

Later in the same game, the same batter hit a ball down the left field line. I was tracking the ball, but found out later (from an evaluator in the stands) that the batter flung his bat toward the catcher as he left for first base. The catcher seemed to be a little shook up, but nobody ever brought it to my attention. The evaluator said it was obvious to him that it was intentional, but that I was doing the correct thing by looking at the ball as it went into left field.

Classic. Coach teaching kids to drop the bat behind the plate. I would have immediate interference with the catcher, but I have never seen that done before.

I'm not too sure if you're either that quick to step out from behind the plate like that or too deaf/blind not to hear/see a bat strike the catcher. I would not want to miss that call.