Gotta hand it to you
 

And WHY does the rule book not say anything about the position of the hands?

Same as HBP, etc. Hands are never, ever, ever, never part of the bat.

As has been pointed out previously in this thread, hands can be just about anywhere and the batter can change (and as stated, usually without much success, but...)

NCAA rule book has won this one going away. Wish ASA would adopt those definitions as well...