Don't pick up that bat!

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by drh898

Which bring up another question, I always try to kick the bat out of the way. Should I or not? And does it make a difference whether it is in the Wed. rec league or FP club play?

My $.02 is that if you're PU and you see the bat in a hazardous area, while I understand the compulsion we all have to move something that's in a bad spot, we should leave it. If you pick it up and throw it somewhere else, you're now responsible for having put it there. If someone gets hurt as a result of the bat being there, it's your butt in the defendant's chair, having to explain to the jury why you shouldn't have to pay Joey's medical bills and lost wages after he broke his leg (despite having signed that waiver before the season started).

We live in a society that loves to sue over anything, including cases that fall into the "sh!t happens" bin.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

My $.02 is that if you're PU and you see the bat in a hazardous area, while I understand the compulsion we all have to move something that's in a bad spot, we should leave it. If you pick it up and throw it somewhere else, you're now responsible for having put it there. If someone gets hurt as a result of the bat being there, it's your butt in the defendant's chair, having to explain to the jury why you shouldn't have to pay Joey's medical bills and lost wages after he broke his leg (despite having signed that waiver before the season started).

We live in a society that loves to sue over anything, including cases that fall into the "sh!t happens" bin.

Dave is correct on this one, as far as I am concerned. Don't mess with the players' equipment. You can do a search and find where this has been discussed many times before on this forum.

[MD Longhorn]

I agree - leave the bat alone. You don't KNOW that the place you move it to is any better than the place you're moving it from. You could move it from a baseline and end up having a thrown ball hit it and change the play dramatically. Plus the litigious thing already mentioned above.

[NCASAUmp]

And furthermore, do you really want to kick someone else's $400 bat? Some players are real alpha males about their equipment, safety-be-damned.