BOT question

[Matt]

Originally Posted by rbmartin

Down at the Cal Ripken level, I would probably walk the coach through this issue, but at a High School level, definitely not. If a coach asks , I would probably say something like "your last proper batter was Baker, your lineup card should say who is next". They should know the rules. I wouldn't tell him how to coach properly any more than I would tell a hitter how to hit better.

Just answer the question. If you don't, you'll just be dealing with another BOO appeal (legitimate or not) in a few seconds when he gets in the box, and you'll have to answer it then, anyway.

[UmpTTS43]

In all three scenarios the runner must return when the BOO appeal is upheld. The advancement was made while the batter turned into a batter runner. Advancements can only be made while the illegal person up is considered a batter.

[Publius]

Originally Posted by UmpTTS43

In all three scenarios the runner must return when the BOO appeal is upheld. The advancement was made while the batter turned into a batter runner. Advancements can only be made while the illegal person up is considered a batter.

Wrong in all three cases.

What you said is true if the runner is FORCED to advance when the batter becomes a B/R, but R2 isn't forced in any of those situations.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 receives a base on balls, on which ball 4 is a wild pitch. R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 returns, R3 scores.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 swings and misses at an uncaught third strike, upon which R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 remains at 2nd, R3 scores.

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by Publius

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 receives a base on balls, on which ball 4 is a wild pitch. R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 returns, R3 scores.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 swings and misses at an uncaught third strike, upon which R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 remains at 2nd, R3 scores.

The proper batter is out, not B7.

[bsaucer]

Here's another scenario: R1, two outs. While improper batter is batting, R1 is picked off for third out. If an appeal is made at this point, is the proper batter out, or does he bat the next inning?

If there is no appeal, who bats next inning? Does the improper batter become the proper batter, or does the original proper batter bat?

My guess is that in either case, the same proper batter bats next inning, since the improper batter never finished batting.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by bsaucer

Here's another scenario: R1, two outs. While improper batter is batting, R1 is picked off for third out. If an appeal is made at this point, is the proper batter out, or does he bat the next inning?

If there is no appeal, who bats next inning? Does the improper batter become the proper batter, or does the original proper batter bat?

My guess is that in either case, the same proper batter bats next inning, since the improper batter never finished batting.

That's correct -- no additional out and the proper batter is the proper batter

[bwburke94]

For an improper batter to be called out, they must complete their plate appearance.

With a runner on first, I'd interpret the wild-pitch question differently than Paronto did, because the runner was forced to second, and furthermore the defensive team was denied the chance to put him out. Under no circumstance can an improper batter becoming a runner give the batting team an advantage.

With a runner on second and first base open, the advance stands because the runner's advancement was not affected by the improper batter becoming a runner. However, if the runner's advancement to third is a result of a play being made on the improper batter-runner, he will be forced to return to second.

If a runner on second (with first base open) attempts to steal third on ball four to an improper batter and is thrown out, the out stands and the proper batter is also out.

If a runner on first overslides second base on ball four to an improper batter and is thrown out, the out stands and the proper batter is also out.

In the strikeout/wild pitch scenario, the runners were forced to advance and would return to their bases at time of pitch, but it's irrelevant because the proper batter is the third out. Since the putout goes to the catcher it can be assumed that the proper batter is considered to be put out before he reaches first base.

In the strikeout/wild pitch scenario with less than two outs, the batter is out, so the runners are not forced and do advance because the pitch being strike three does not affect their advancement.

If there is a force play at second with less than two outs, the out at second stands and the proper batter is also out, because the rule for batting out of turn contains no provisions for returning runners who have been put out to their time-of-pitch base.

If there is a force play at second with two outs, or a double play that does not involve the batter-runner with one out, the only person ruled out is the proper batter because otherwise four outs would be recorded in the inning.

All scenarios assume that there is an improper batter and that an appeal is made. I am not an umpire but I know the rule and know how to enforce it.

[bwburke94]

edit: removed double post

[UmpTTS43]

Originally Posted by Publius

Wrong in all three cases.

What you said is true if the runner is FORCED to advance when the batter becomes a B/R, but R2 isn't forced in any of those situations.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 receives a base on balls, on which ball 4 is a wild pitch. R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 returns, R3 scores.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 swings and misses at an uncaught third strike, upon which R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 remains at 2nd, R3 scores.

Being forced has nothing to do whether a runner has to return or not. If a runner advances when the batter becomes a runner, they must return. The only time advancements stand is when they are made while the illegal player is a batter. The fact that a pitch is a passed ball is irrelevant since that pitch makes the batter a batter runner.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Publius

Wrong in all three cases.

What you said is true if the runner is FORCED to advance when the batter becomes a B/R, but R2 isn't forced in any of those situations.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 receives a base on balls, on which ball 4 is a wild pitch. R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 returns, R3 scores.

R1, R3, one out. Improper batter B7 swings and misses at an uncaught third strike, upon which R1 advances to 2nd and R3 advances to the plate. Defense makes a proper appeal. B7 is out, R1 remains at 2nd, R3 scores.

Wrong player out, and the rest is all wrong too. No advances that occur after B becomes BR stand. R3 does not score in either case.

(And now that I say that, the back of my head is tickling me that this might be ruleset specific... where are those books now.... )

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

Wrong player out, and the rest is all wrong too. No advances that occur after B becomes BR stand. R3 does not score in either case.

(And now that I say that, the back of my head is tickling me that this might be ruleset specific... where are those books now.... )

Here's an email response from Jim Paronto (NCAA) on how to handle it, at least there (the question relates to improper batter, ball4/wild pitch):


You are correct. The advance by R2 was on a wild pitch, which just happened to be ball four. Had it been ball three, he still would have advanced. Leave him at second, call the improper batter out and get the correct hitter to the plate.





Thanks for asking.


Jim

[dash_riprock]

Jim has the wrong guy out as well. Typo?

[Dave Reed]

In NFHS, when the improper batter becomes a runner or is put out, and the BOOT is appealed, all runner return to TOP base. 7.1.2 Penalty 2 (from a 2009 rule book)

In OBR, "nullify any advance or score made because of a ball batted by the improper batter or because of the improper batter’s advance to first base on a hit, an error, a base on balls, a hit batter or otherwise." (6.07, and my bolding for emphasis)

[Rita C]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Jim has the wrong guy out as well. Typo?

Hope so.

[Publius]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

...this might be ruleset specific... where are those books now....

yep. When I'm interpreting from memory on a non-ruleset-specific play, FED is my last source. So, apologies to those I said were "wrong"; we're just coming from different places.

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Jim has the wrong guy out as well. Typo?

I didn't make a typo; I typed exactly what I intended. I was just careless and wrong. I know who is supposed to be called out, as evidenced by post #29.

I'm not sure what Paronto's excuse is.

In the R1, R3 play I gave, I learned that when determining whether R1 advanced because of the BB or because of the WP, go with the BB (and bring R1 back) because it doesn't require any conjecture. It sounds like Paronto might want a more nuanced approach. That is, if R3 scored, it is safe to assume that R1 would have advanced irrespective of the pitch being ball four (leave R1 at 2nd). I'll have to get that clarified.