Jello,

Ok, all of the parks I call in have NO batter's boxes. So, it's really a judgment call for us, and we do give the benifit of the doubt to the batter.

Here's my question.

Is the batter ALWAYS out if his bat makes contact with the ball, and he has a foot in front of the plate, but not making contact with it?

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Rule 7 - Batting
Section 6. The Batter is OUT.
D. When an entire foot is touching the ground completely outside the lines of the batter's box when the ball makes contact with the bat.
E. When any part of a foot is touching home plate when the ball makes contact with the bat.
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In section 3 of the same rule it says the batter shall not step in front of the catcher to the other batter's box...etc. So I don't think that rule can be applied here, since he's not making an attempt to goto the other batter box.



TYIA.

I called many a game with no
batter's box and agree that you
give the benefit of the doubt to
the batter in most cases.
Makes it easy if the batter's foot
is entirely in front of home plate
when he/she hits the balls.
DEAD BALL--batter is out !
Same with foot touching the plate.
Usually happens on an outside pitch
that allows you to "see it coming" !

So basically, if it's close, or just maybe a toe or two, let it go.

If it's blatant and a full foot, dead ball, batter out.

That sound reasonable?

Again, TYIA.

For NFHS, the proper markings are required on all fields. This was a POE this year, and it specifically mentions the batter's boxes. Therefore, if these are NFHS games, I would certainly point out this requirement to the coaches.

Remember, the batter's box is 6" off the plate. So, if you have a batter that has more than 3/4 of their foot directly in front of the plate, that is an easy call, out!

BTW, (Grey will love me for this one) the wording of the rule is a little confusing. The entire foot doesn't have to be touching the ground outside of the batter's box, but the entire part of the foot touching the ground at the time of contact is outside of the batter's box, then the batter should be ruled out.

Yea, this is a City League in SF, ...ASA rules. Not FED.


Thanks for the details mike, and thanks all.

PS - if it's a toe or two, and the heel is still in the box (and on the ground), she's legal even if there ARE lines drawn.

I watched a college game recently where the PU did something I didn't understand, and had not seen before. After sweeping off the plate, he would smooth the area directly in front of the plate. I wanted to ask him why he did so, but the answer struck me later on. I used this technique in a tourney this past weekend, and called a batter out for contact out of the box. No arguement from the coach, (he said she had done it before), but the batter was also the catcher. As she returned to the defense I asked her if she understood to which she replied she couldn't have been out of the box (she was thinking front of box). I had a footprint to show her, one and only print directly in front of the plate! This is a neat little trick.

A footprint still doesn't tell you when the foot was out of the box & on the ground. ;)

Ahhh, so true, but it does shed a lot of credence to the call!

well well well

learn something new every day.

There is one particular team I work in Fed ball that crowds the plate like nothing you ever seen.. man are they close and often..

Thanks.

I also clear off the area in front of the plate but it is for bad hops off the uneven ground. I don't care about foot prints and would never show one to a player or coach. That foot print doesn't prove anything. This is a judgement call and does not need proof of a foot print. If it is not obvious don't call it.

[Edited by Ed Maeder on Apr 21st, 2005 at 12:33 AM]

I do this "smoothing" of the area in front of the plate whenever I have a team that does a lot of slap bunts or when I feel like maybe the team is getting an advantage.
I actually learned it at the old Evan's Umpire School for small ball years ago.
Sometimes just the act of smoothing the ground in front of the plate will serve as enough of a warning that I am watchng.
Another advantage is that if you smooth the ground to where the lines should be (I also smooth out the ground in front of the batters box) batters don't tend to try to start out illegally and frankly, coaches don't whine when you do call the out.

You don't need to use it all the time, just pay attention to how the teams work. I have gone for many games with no need for it and other times, you need to do it constantly.

So does this mean we are clearifying and clarifying the batters box? I couldnt resist.