Baseball Oddities | HOU@ATL: Downs gets hit by pitch, then strikes out - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

This looks like a very proper call (and very bad acting)

Question: Pitch is in batter's box but batter only turns to take the pitch in the back.

Is that enough effort to avoid for you all? I have a friend that wants a major bailout before he sends a batter to first.

Rita

I admit I don't to any actual college ball, the only time I even look into a NCAA book is for a local 19U tournament hosted by the top independent team from my area. So I only gave a quick glance to this rule. Fortunately the play didn't come up.

Thanks for the info I will do some better research before next year's tournament.

Jasper

I guess your friend would not have awarded Tony Clonigliaro nor Dickie Thon first base in that case. Doesn't sound like Ray Chapman would have qualified either.

Do you have any references less than 60 years old?

Tony C., may he rest in peace, was nailed in 1967, which is only 44 years old.

Sorry, got hung up on Ray Chapman.

The point is still valid.

Yes, my point is still valid, although I don't have a clue what "point" you were driving at. Chapman died in 1920 (91 years ago - it took MLB more than 30 years to introduce batting helmets after that, I guess they were waiting for a more contemporaneous reference, too). Like Steve said, Tony C got it in 1967 which was 44 years ago. Thon's was in 1984 which was 27 years ago. The "point" is that every generation has stellar players whose careers were ended because they didn't do a "major bailout" as is apparently required by Rita's friend as a condition to be awarded first base after being hit with a pitch.

I think that your friend might be a former pitcher. ;)

I'm a pitcher's umpire for balls and strikes, but a batter's umpire when it comes to being hit. In most of my games, batters get hit when a pitch gets away from F1 or when he tries to come inside and misses. I see no reason for the batter to pay for the pitcher's mistakes.

The only exception is the batter who's hanging over the plate. He put himself in harm's way, so he needs to do a little more to get out of the way if F1 comes inside.

While a batter is required to avoid a pitch, not stated by the rule but something an umpire might want to consider: Was the pitch, in fact, avoidable?

With a pitch right at the batter, in most cases no amount of contortion is going to get him completely out of the way. If something is truly "unavoidable", is it really possible to avoid it? Turning away in a defensive move to lessen the impact, or protect oneself from more serious injury, should satisfy the requirement of "attempting to avoid" something that is by it's nature "unavoidable".

I've worked with partners that want to see come sort of full-fledged jump out of the way by the batter. This ain't dodgeball! Give the batter every benefit of the doubt.

The pitch does not belong in the batter's box so if the batter makes any movement (other than offering at the pitch), you can make the award. When the DC whines, just repeat what I said first "The pitch doesn't belong in the batter's box".

IMO there are three types of pitches that you need to deal with in the games most of us on this board do, as Mbyron has also implied:

1. (98% of the time) Bad or errant pitching. Unless that batter does something to obiviously get hit by the pitch, chances are real good I'm sending him to first. To expect the batter to make exhorbant moves to not be hit by a pitch in the batter box below the shoulders, well I'm going with the batter. Anything above that, well you know self-preservation is kicking in. The rule book allows me to make the call and this is the criteria I have established to be in compliance. By the same token if it is obvious your trying to get hit with the pitch over the plate, your staying to finish your at bat.

2. (1%) Send a message pitch. I have umpired games were some players just needed a correction factor applied to their method of approach to the game, attitude and overall sportsmanship. It was artfully handled by the pitcher and always below the shoulders, and very effective in getting the message across of how the game should be played. The batter was sent to first however the players handled a situation that was much more effective than I could of done.

3.(1%) The intentional Bean Ball. If you do enough baseball you have a pretty good idea when you should be looking for this. You may have already given warnings and you should be jumping all over this with an ejection. It is obvious what has to be done here. There is sometimes a fine line between No. 2 & 3 but, with experience you should have no problem discerning this.

Well put
 

I agree totally, nicely stated.

Thanks
David

Rules and their interpretations do change over the years, so I would think his point is that he'd like some more recent examples. ;)

I actually got a chance to use this in my game this morning. The batter had no time to really "avoid" anything, he merely raised his arm a bit to get hit in a more favorable spot. The DC came out, did his little song and dance, and I said the pitch was well inside the batter's box, and that's his box. He grudgingly agreed, and we continued playing the first of a long, humid, and grueling all-day double header.