Who's the pitcher?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

Work my first Rec (Wreck) League game of the season today (ok yesterday evening since it is 12:40 am).

They have instituted a 3 HBP limit for a pitcher. The pitcher has already hit two batters early on, one in the side, one in the thigh. Pitch comes in, bounces 5 feet in front of the plate, then again 2 feet in front. It kicks off a pebble in front of the plate rolls over and rolls into the foot of the batter, who is entirely within the batters box. It is clear that the ball "hit" her foot. The offensive coach comes out and says "She needs to be removed, that was 3 batters she hit." Sadly, he was right and the DC knew it. After the game the DC comes over and asks "Would you have told me she needed to leave the game if the coach hadn't said something?" My response was "It is the rule coach." All the time I was thinking, this is a stupid rule that leaves no judgment to the umpire. I sure as heck would not have removed the pitcher for this because it wasn't the intent of the rule, nor was a ball rolling against the batters foot a "safety" issue.

No, no, no.

This ball that bounced twice and rolled into the batter is NOT a HBP. Obviously the batter made no effort to get out of the way of it. If you gave that batter first base ... shame on you.