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I was once taught early in my umpiring career (back when I was only doing LL Baseball) that when you hear the ball hit the bat and also see the batter immediately act in pain since the ball caught his/her hand, you should judge:
1. That if the batter was trying to avoid the pitch, send him/her to first base because the ball hit the batter first and then hit the bat.
2. That if the batter offered at the pitch, then consider it a foul ball because the ball hit the bat first and then hit the batter. That way, if he/she had two strikes at the time, you're not ruling him/her out on a dead ball strike.
The theory was that there's no way we can actually tell what was hit first, the batter or the bat. So why rule in favor of the pitcher who delivered a pitch that was too far inside?
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"Let's face it. Umpiring is not an easy or happy way to make a living. In the abuse they suffer, and the pay they get for it, you see an imbalance that can only be explained by their need to stay close to a game they can't resist." -- Bob Uecker
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Thu Apr 06, 2017, 07:51am
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