Another just for fun: was it a bunt?

[The Man In Blue]

Since we have been having a good time debating slap hitting vs. bunting ... Going to go a little off the rails here. I spent the day volunteering my umpiring skills (both good and bad skills!) at Special Olympics. It was slow pitch (which I do NOT umpire).

One easy rule is “no bunting”. Or is it easy?

I was on the bases (C position, but doesn’t matter).

As the pitch is coming in and dropping, the batter leans down with the pitch but does not make any effort to swing. The hands did naturally move towards the ball as the batter leaned over, but it was never even close to any swing attempt (just the batter’s arms moving out as he leaned over).

The ball hits the knob of the bat and rolls about 8 inches in front of home plate. I started laughing to myself because I knew where this was headed.

Sure enough, at the conclusion of the play (all runners safe) the defensive team’s coach started to come out. My partner and I got together first and motioned him off. We both had the same thought ... it wasn’t a bunt. We delivered our ruling and were met with the expected argument. The coach was making the case “he didn’t swing so it had to be a bunt.” My partner again gave our ruling ... “It wasn’t a swing, but that doesn’t make it a bunt.”

What do the masses say?

 

[MadBandit22]

Since we have been having a good time debating slap hitting vs. bunting ... Going to go a little off the rails here. I spent the day volunteering my umpiring skills (both good and bad skills!) at Special Olympics. It was slow pitch (which I do NOT umpire).

One easy rule is “no bunting”. Or is it easy?

I was on the bases (C position, but doesn’t matter).

As the pitch is coming in and dropping, the batter leans down with the pitch but does not make any effort to swing. The hands did naturally move towards the ball as the batter leaned over, but it was never even close to any swing attempt (just the batter’s arms moving out as he leaned over).

The ball hits the knob of the bat and rolls about 8 inches in front of home plate. I started laughing to myself because I knew where this was headed.

Sure enough, at the conclusion of the play (all runners safe) the defensive team’s coach started to come out. My partner and I got together first and motioned him off. We both had the same thought ... it wasn’t a bunt. We delivered our ruling and were met with the expected argument. The coach was making the case “he didn’t swing so it had to be a bunt.” My partner again gave our ruling ... “It wasn’t a swing, but that doesn’t make it a bunt.”

What do the masses say?

MIB

Since we have been having a good time debating slap hitting vs. bunting ... Going to go a little off the rails here. I spent the day volunteering my umpiring skills (both good and bad skills!) at Special Olympics. It was slow pitch (which I do NOT umpire).

One easy rule is “no bunting”. Or is it easy?

I was on the bases (C position, but doesn’t matter).

As the pitch is coming in and dropping, the batter leans down with the pitch but does not make any effort to swing. The hands did naturally move towards the ball as the batter leaned over, but it was never even close to any swing attempt (just the batter’s arms moving out as he leaned over).

The ball hits the knob of the bat and rolls about 8 inches in front of home plate. I started laughing to myself because I knew where this was headed.

Sure enough, at the conclusion of the play (all runners safe) the defensive team’s coach started to come out. My partner and I got together first and motioned him off. We both had the same thought ... it wasn’t a bunt. We delivered our ruling and were met with the expected argument. The coach was making the case “he didn’t swing so it had to be a bunt.” My partner again gave our ruling ... “It wasn’t a swing, but that doesn’t make it a bunt.”

What do the masses say?

MIB- I’m a lefty and used to drag bunt quite a bit early in games to put pressure on the pitcher and quite frankly get my confidence up by reaching base early in the game.
Don’t know the rule/rules but it seems pretty clear to me. A bunt is not a swing. A slap is a swing. If you swing at the ball it can’t be a bunt (I call a dribbler in front of the plate on a full swing a swinging bunt but it’s not). Just easier to describe that way I guess. Seems like an easy call to me.

 

[Strike2]

USSSA 2018 slow-pitch rules defines the bunt as "a batted ball that is intentionally met with the bat and tapped slowly". One can haggle over the definition of "intentional", but the clear intent of the "no bunting" rule is that a legally batted ball involves some sort of swing. I've seen this happen, and it was called foul after much laughter, the only thing funnier being the strike-out.

 

[CoachJD]

A bunt has to be an intentional act, as Strike2 mentioned. Accidentally tapping the ball isn't a bunt, the same way a check swing that accidentally makes contact isn't a bunt (I don't know you'd see much of that in slow pitch, of course). In neither case is the batter purposefully tapping the ball.

It's tough to force an umpire to judge intent, but unless this guy developed a very sneaky knob-bunt tactic (hmm....), it seems obvious.