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Wed May 04, 2005, 03:04pm
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If the bat is moving forward at the point of contact, consider it a slap hit attempt. If the bat is held still (or even, may be a better thought) or is being pulled back to deaden contact, it is a bunt.
Ignore what you hear from the peanut gallery referencing the hand location; you can bunt with hands together, and you can slap with hands separated. 
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Thu May 05, 2005, 08:15am
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You can also bunt with the bat moving to the ball, which probably happens more than a still bat. Whats your call then? Hand position is the only thing that will differentiate the two. The Peanut Gallery.
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Thu May 05, 2005, 08:32am
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If it walks like a duck talks like a duck, its a duck.
A bunt is a slow tap on the ball. A swing is not a bunt..but a swing of the bat. All the fancy stuff in between either bunt or slap, including hand position, doesnt matter.
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ASA, NCAA, NFHS
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Thu May 05, 2005, 12:26pm
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Thu May 05, 2005, 12:42pm
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So let me understand what you are saying. A batter is squared up with the pitcher face to face. One hand at the end of the handle and the other in the center of the barrel. She has two strikes on her. She brings the bat to the ball and the ball ends up dribbling foul. Youre not going to ring up the batter? Is this just an ASA rule? In FED 2-9-2 says "An attempted bunt (offer) is any forward movement of the bat toward the ball when the ball is over or near the plate area."
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Thu May 05, 2005, 01:20pm
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I now understand the point of this post. If it is a two-strike attempt that goes foul, you need to know in your mind if it was an attempted bunt or attempted hit. I would use hand position to make that determination. If the hands are apart, as is typical bunt form, she is out on the attempted bunt. If she brings her hands together, as is typical hitting form, I am calling foul ball. This is going to be a HTBT play, but will definitely be thru the eyes of the Umpire and not thru the eyes of the batter or the coach.
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Tony Smerk OHSAA Certified Class 1 Official Sheffield Lake, Ohio
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Thu May 05, 2005, 01:32pm
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Atl, I disagree. Batter sets up to bunt, and moves the bat toward the ball (forward, backward, up, down... don't care), it's a bunt attempt.
To differentiate between a swing and a bunt --- a bunt normally has the handle of the bat moving in approximately the same direction and speed as the barrel of the bat. A slap or swing normally has the barrel of the bat moving significantly faster than the handle of the bat. It is possible (the batter doesn't have much accuracy here, but it's POSSIBLE) for a batter to start with a bunt, and convert to a slap or swing without recocking --- but it looks like a batter throwing the barrel of the bat forward while holding on to the handle. I've SEEN it, but I haven't seen it with much success.
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Thu May 05, 2005, 01:46pm
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Atlumpsteve,
How do you ring up a strike three on a batter who attempts a bunt by moving the bat forward, makes contact and the ball goes foul? Just curious since you describe that as an attempted slap hit - based on your definition. How do you exlain that to the defensive coach who is looking at that as attempted bunt strike three your out?
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Tony Smerk OHSAA Certified Class 1 Official Sheffield Lake, Ohio
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Thu May 05, 2005, 01:56pm
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David
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Thu May 05, 2005, 02:26pm
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Quote:
Could I ask how you explain a judgement call to a coach? [Edited by NSABlue on May 5th, 2005 at 03:30 PM]
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David
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Thu May 05, 2005, 02:52pm
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Let us refer to the most anal of rules associations, the NCAA, BUT skip the part about needing to withdraw the bat, since they stand alone in that interpretation.
NCAA defines a bunt as "A legally batted ball not swung at, but intentionally tapped with the bat." NCAA defines bunt attempt as "Any non-swinging movement of the bat intended to tap the ball into play." NCAA defines a slap hit as "A batted ball that has been struck with a short, chopping motion rather than a full swing. The two most common types of slap its are: a. Those in which the batter takes her stance as if to bunt but then either drives the ball into the ground with a quick, short swing or punches it over the infield. b. Those in which the batter takes running steps toward the pitcher before making contact with the pitch." NFHS definitions are virtually identical. ASA defines only a bunt. Note that absolutely NONE of these definitions have any relationship to the hands on the bat! Even when assuming the bunting stance (squaring), that is the first listed most common type of slap! Maybe moving the bat forward is an oversimplification, and you know it when you see it, but swinging the bat requires a forward force to be applied, or attempted to be applied. A bunt is, at most, a stab to get the bat in the right position, but primarily an attempt to hold the bat still! If forward force is applied, it is a swing (is force more acceptable to everyone than motion?). Since a bunt is "non-swinging", any swing must be a hit attempt, not a bunt attempt. In some cases, this is close enough that only the words "in my judgment" apply. That is true in any borderline decision at almost every level. You are only as successful as your ability to sell your judgment, even when it isn't what the coach wants to hear.
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Thu May 05, 2005, 02:57pm
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I agree 100% that the position of the hands is irrelevant.
But I maintain that the main difference between a bunt and a slap is that the speed of the barrel of the bat is generally faster than the handle on a slap or swing, but generally the same as the handle on a bunt (even if there is forward momentum on a bunt attempt).
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