Catcher not returning ball to pitcher

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Dakota

The rule being discussed does not apply to any of the tortured "when does the batter become a batter-runner and when does the batter-runner become a batter" angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin scenarios for one very simple reason. They are all after a batted ball, not after a pitch.

Sorry to spoil your fun.

Certainly true.

The relationship goes back to the assertion that it is possible to judge an attempt for a putout without a runner or batter-runner, and the following discussion as efforts to prove or disprove that possibility. So the discussion isn't without merit, but, yes, it digresses from the initial issue.