Ball hits knob of bat, then hand

[sluggers]

Is this a hit by pitch?

OU v UA, ball hit knob first. Umpire called it a HBP. He may have missed it...what is the call?

 

[Strike2]

Well...if the ball hit off any other part of the bat and then hit the player what would the call be?

My DD commented that she's also been awarded 1B after a ball clearly hit the knob, and she laughed all the way down the baseline.

 

[CoachJD]

I can understand the umpire missing this call. What's infuriating (and we get this a LOT with that particular broadcast) is they're showing slow motion of the video and we hear "The ball hits her hand" at the exact moment you see it hit the knob.

There are probably a half dozen times per game where I'm told something happened that directly contradicts the video being shown. Michele Smith is really, really bad at the job (I think Mowins is fine and Holly Rowe is great; also, the other broadcast team was typically good).

 

[chinamigarden]

Foul ball same as it hits the bat and goes straight down and bounces off the foot

 

[FP26]

I agree that it should be a foul ball. However, that has to be one of the most difficult calls an umpire ever has to make.

 

[eddieq]

Sure, based on the slow-mo replay, it should have been ruled a foul ball. The umpire judged it hit her hands first. That's all that matters at that moment. Based on that, correct ruling that she is awarded first base.

 

[Gags]

IIRC, they only showed the replay once, from behind (C/Ump perspective). It wasn't the best angle - I think a better view would have been from the front, but to me, it looked like it either got the bottom part of her hand (below the pinky), and then hit the knob, or got her hand and knob simultaneously.

It was hard to see in slow motion - can't imagine trying to make that ruling in real time.

 

[djcarter1966]

I didn't umpire much but when I did for a few years this was usually more of a sound thing; the ball just sounds different coming off the knob versus the hand IMO there just isn't any other way to describe but you know it when you hear it. You can't really go off of reaction since the ball can vibrate the bat and cause the player to react but the sound you can't really do anything about. Now if the umpire reacts and thinks it hits the batter the call is an immediate dead ball and first base is awarded, undoing that can be pretty impossible especially if the ball goes into fair territory; our resident umps might be able to help with that question.

 

[WVSteven]

If the umpire calls "dead ball" then the ball is dead and requires a ruling. If I think the ball hit the batter enough to call the dead ball then that's how we're proceeding, she got hit.

In the OU/UA game, don't forget, it the ball hits the clothing that is properly worn it is the same as hitting the batter's body. If I remember correctly, her batting gloves were around the knob of the bat, maybe they were hit before the knob. I saw the play and the slow-motion replay but cannot remember. Live action that is the toughest call he had to make in that game last night.