Ball hits batter

[Manny A]

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?

[jmkupka]

PU: "Foul ball!"

OC: "Blue! That hit my batter first!

PU: "You sure you want that call?"

OC: "Damn right I do!"

PU: "Good enough. Batter swung, out!"

Good thing I don't let the coaches make my calls for me...

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by jmkupka

PU: "Foul ball!"

OC: "Blue! That hit my batter first!

PU: "You sure you want that call?"

OC: "Damn right I do!"

PU: "Good enough. Batter swung, out!"

Good thing I don't let the coaches make my calls for me...

Oh, I don't know about that. This one actually worked out in your favor.