Ball Four?

[TexBlue]

Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
Look at it this way.

....... Well, you can certainly rule a ball on the batter in the given scenario, and you can believe me that I am not a fan of the "spirit of the game" or "intent of the rule" arguments unless I was in the room at the convention when it was discussed. However, I am a big fan of preventive umpiring and this is not a matter of the catcher delaying the game (purpose of the rule) or showing off, but believing it was the third strike on said batter. This, in my mind, makes the throw valid.

JMHO,

It would seem to me that "preventive umpiring" stopped at the pitch. I always give the count before each pitch. This is preventive umpiring, in my mind. What you're talking about is AFTER THE FACT She threw the ball in a situation forbidding it. It doesn't say you can't throw to an unmanned base unless you thought you struck her out. You had to acutally strike out the batter. That's the catcher's mistake, we have an illegal pitch. All other rules still apply. It's not what the catcher thought, it is the reality we have to deal with.

You mentioned the scenario where a runner advances while a batter goes to 1st on what she mistakenly thought was a dropped 3rd strike. The advancing runner can stay at the base she stole, due to the fact that the catcher should have known it was only 2 strikes. It's just a bad play on her part. Same thing on the catcher throwing to 3rd. Bad play, illegal pitch.

JMHO

[Edited by TexBlue on Nov 29th, 2004 at 09:19 PM]