What if situation

[chapmaja]

Ok, this is a what if situation. Only parts (broken bat) have happened while I was umpiring.

NFHS and ASA rule answers.

a) R1 on 3rd, R2, on second, R1 on first, 0 out. B4 hits a line drive to left field for a base hit. As she hits the ball, the composite bat breaks, and the non-handle portion of the bat flies out and hits F1 in the knee, causing her to go down injured. R1 scores, R2 comes in throw gets by the catcher and out of play into the dugout area. R3 had passed second base by the time the ball was thrown, and B4 was passed first base. What do you have?

b) Same situation, except the bat slips out of B4 hands and hits F1 on the knee.

c) same situation, except the bat comes back and hits F2 injuring her? She ends up laying injured partially on top of home plate.

[Andy]

I'm going to handle this the same as any other situation when a player is injured during a live ball.

If the injury does not require immediate attention, I let the play finish, call time, and have the injured players attended to. If the injury requires immediate attention for the injured player, I call time, get help to the player, and place runners accordingly.

Specific answers to your situations:

a) Call dead ball when the ball enters the dugout, award R3 home and B4 third. Allow appropriate personnel to attend to the injured F1. I'd probably also try to grab the broken bat and take a quick look at it to see if it had been potentially altered.

b) see A, with the exception of inspecting the bat

c) This one might be a bit trickier. If the injured F2 requires immediate attention, kill the play as described above. If she does not require immediate attention, but is down on or around home plate and there is a possibility of further injury from runners attempting to score, kill the play and award bases.


This doesn't seem too hard. Are you thinking that there is some difference because it was the bat that struck a defensive player as opposed to the ball?

[AtlUmpSteve]

What Andy said, plus a warning in NFHS in b & c.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

What Andy said, plus a warning in NFHS in b & c.

Why a warning in c? Unless the catcher was hit by a carelessly released bat, I don't see a need to warn. It could be that the batter hit the catcher with the follow-through, which could be indicative of the catcher being too close to the plate.

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Why a warning in c? Unless the catcher was hit by a carelessly released bat, I don't see a need to warn. It could be that the batter hit the catcher with the follow-through, which could be indicative of the catcher being too close to the plate.

While that could be a different situation, that isn't how I read this unclear OP, "same situation" after "bat slips out of B4 hands". If the bat leaves the batter's hands and hits a defensive player, I have a warning under 3-6-3.

[CecilOne]

Without looking it up, isn't there a difference in the rules for a broken bat versus a full bat?

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by CecilOne

Without looking it up, isn't there a difference in the rules for a broken bat versus a full bat?

Yes, there are different rules for a broken bat rather than a bat that is released carelessly by a batter. A broken bat, even if it interferes with a play, is not interference. If a carelessly released bat interferes with a fielder it is interference.

In b and c I agree with the warning for a carelessly released bat.

The question is does this interfere with play, and do we have interference on the play?

Here would be my rulings personally (NFHS):

a) We have nothing until the the ball enters dead ball territory and then we are awarding bases (R3 home, R2 third). The injury to the knee most likely will not result in killing the play, unless the player is somehow stabbed with the broken bat and is bleeding heavily. (Reference point Casebook 7-4-14 situation)

b) We have a carelessly released bat under rule 3-6-3. Again, unless the injury requires immediate medical attention we have play continuing until the ball goes into dead ball territory, at which time we award R3 home and B4 third base. We then issue a warning to the coach of B4 for a carelessly thrown bat. We then have the defensive coach coming out to argue that the thrown bat did interfere with the play because the pitcher should have been the backup to the catcher on the throw that went out of play, and had she not been injured the ball would not have gone out of play.

c) I should have made more clear. I was implying that again, it was a carelessly released bat, which came back injured the catcher.

This is the one play I'm not 100% sure unless I saw it happen. We have a variety of different possible calls on the play. Is F2 laying on home plate obstructing any runners? Do we have obstruction? Is F2 injured so seriously we need to kill the play? In that case we award the bases we feel the runners would have gained had the play not been killed. The question is, and the coach will come out to argue, that we have interference on the play because F2 would have been in a position to make a play on a runner coming home had she not been injured by the bat which was carelessly released.

If c was the result of the catcher being to close, and not a result of the batter carelessly releasing the bat we have nothing unless the batter somehow intentionally hit the catcher or the catcher is so seriously injured we must kill the play. This would not be catchers obstruction because the batter was not hindered in her attempt to hit the ball, since contact occurred after the ball was hit.