Hit by pitch

[wentdl]

Hope I get lots of umpires input here. How much wiggle do you give to a batter hit by pitch out of strike zone when he undeniably does not make any effort to avoid ball, or turns a leg or upper arm albeit slightly into the pitch.Even though batter is entitled to the box a "reasonable effort" should be made to avoid pitch should it not.

[David B]

Originally Posted by wentdl

Hope I get lots of umpires input here. How much wiggle do you give to a batter hit by pitch out of strike zone when he undeniably does not make any effort to avoid ball, or turns a leg or upper arm albeit slightly into the pitch.Even though batter is entitled to the box a "reasonable effort" should be made to avoid pitch should it not.

Not the answer you might want, but I would say it depends ...

Depends on the age of the kids involved,
Depends on what type of pitch it was etc.,

There are other criteria I would use, but pitch out of the zone, hits batter, he's pretty much getting first base unless he does something unusual which I think would be considered a deliberate attempt to get hit by the ball.


Thanks
David

[briancurtin]

Originally Posted by wentdl

Hope I get lots of umpires input here. How much wiggle do you give to a batter hit by pitch out of strike zone when he undeniably does not make any effort to avoid ball, or turns a leg or upper arm albeit slightly into the pitch.Even though batter is entitled to the box a "reasonable effort" should be made to avoid pitch should it not.

In NCAA, the batter owns the box - he can freeze and just take the pitch. OBR doesn't allow that by the book - he has to make an attempt to not get hit, and that's different than turning and taking it in a better place.

However, this all happens so fast. The only time I've called batters back to the box is when they reach out to get hit.

[stratref]

The only time I bring a batter back to the box is one of two scenarios:
1) (Except NCAA rules) A batter looks a pitch into his body/arm. I am talking about tracking pitch and seeing it the whole way and not even flinching. (This is ok in NCAA as long as contact occurs in the batters box.)
2) (All Rule sets) A batter sticking out an arm or leg or other part of his body to get hit.

I had each type happen once this year, the first the batter understood that just taking the 40ish MPH fastball (38+ league) he had to at least flinch or I couldn't give him first, he walked on the next pitch any way.

The second one a batter ducked on an inside pitch but as he ducked he stuck his front elbow out and got hit right on the elbow. If he was the type to crowd the plate I would have had a strike but as he stood back from the plate that elbow was still 6+ inches off the plate so I just brought him back. I got less than 5 seconds of flack from the coach, and the batter never complained, he knew what was going on.

Jasper

[etn_ump]

All ages I work, 16 and up, unless the batter does something to cause himself to be hit and if the ball is in the box, he is going to first.

I don't reward the pitcher for throwing in the batter's box.

[Dave Reed]

Originally Posted by stratref

The only time I bring a batter back to the box is one of two scenarios:
1) (Except NCAA rules) A batter looks a pitch into his body/arm. I am talking about tracking pitch and seeing it the whole way and not even flinching. (This is ok in NCAA as long as contact occurs in the batters box.)
.......

The NCAA rules use the term "freezes". It is not OK to track a slow pitch into the batters box without attempting to move, according to NCAA rule 8-2d(2) and the associated AR.

I'm well aware that many umpires award first base whenever a non-swinging batter is hit inside the box, regardless of whether the game is being played in NCAA or any other ruleset. That's fine, and maybe the rules should be written that way, but even the NCAA rules don't mandate an award when the batter is struck inside the box.

[mrm21711]

Although not related to the OP, another great "commentary" regarding an HBP situation.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | SD@LAD: Johnson awarded first upon umpire inspection - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

As usual, not sure what Angel was doing here either.

[jicecone]

Originally Posted by mrm21711

Although not related to the OP, another great "commentary" regarding an HBP situation.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | SD@LAD: Johnson awarded first upon umpire inspection - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

As usual, not sure what Angel was doing here either.

As usual, commentators don't have a clue.

After three replays they say, "Its clear that it hit him", then "when your bunting, you hand is part of the bat".

I have this theory in life that 60 - 75% of the public is stupid. Which means there are some VERY STUPID people out there and some not so stupid. Therefore we can establish an average.

Guess what group the majority of Sports Announcers fit in ?

[TwoBits]

Originally Posted by mrm21711

Although not related to the OP, another great "commentary" regarding an HBP situation.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | SD@LAD: Johnson awarded first upon umpire inspection - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

As usual, not sure what Angel was doing here either.

Do we all agree Hernandez should not have inspected the batter's hand for injury? I only ask because this situation has happened twice when I was umpiring behind the plate. Both times I did not award first to the batter because I did not see the ball hit the batter's hand, and they were both wood bat games, and I couldn't go off sound, either. Both times the offensive team's managers got themselves ejected when they went nuts over my decision.

[STL_UMP]

Originally Posted by mrm21711

Although not related to the OP, another great "commentary" regarding an HBP situation.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | SD@LAD: Johnson awarded first upon umpire inspection - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

As usual, not sure what Angel was doing here either.

And don't forget.. your hand is part of the bat.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by Dave Reed

The NCAA rules use the term "freezes". It is not OK to track a slow pitch into the batters box without attempting to move, according to NCAA rule 8-2d(2) and the associated AR.

I'm well aware that many umpires award first base whenever a non-swinging batter is hit inside the box, regardless of whether the game is being played in NCAA or any other ruleset. That's fine, and maybe the rules should be written that way, but even the NCAA rules don't mandate an award when the batter is struck inside the box.

The reason is very simple - the pitch does not belong in the batter's box.

[Larry1953]

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)

[stratref]

Originally Posted by Dave Reed

The NCAA rules use the term "freezes". It is not OK to track a slow pitch into the batters box without attempting to move, according to NCAA rule 8-2d(2) and the associated AR.

I'm well aware that many umpires award first base whenever a non-swinging batter is hit inside the box, regardless of whether the game is being played in NCAA or any other ruleset. That's fine, and maybe the rules should be written that way, but even the NCAA rules don't mandate an award when the batter is struck inside the box.

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

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by wentdl

Hope I get lots of umpires input here. How much wiggle do you give to a batter hit by pitch out of strike zone when he undeniably does not make any effort to avoid ball, or turns a leg or upper arm albeit slightly into the pitch.Even though batter is entitled to the box a "reasonable effort" should be made to avoid pitch should it not.

If the batter has a chance to move, then he needs to do so -- he can't "allow" himself to get hit. If he doesn't have a chance to move (including "freezing" on an inside fastball), then he doesn't have to move.

[Rita C]

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