Batting out of order

[DanDare]

I get it. Thanks for the help.

Sounds like it was handled correctly by the umpire with the exception of the next batter. At first, he told us that #6 should be leading off the next inning. We told him that wasn't possible since she struck out in the previous inning. He agreed and told us that #7 would be the batter. However, #7 should have been called out for not batting in her spot and #8 should have lead off.

 

[Ajaywill]

1) You are never out for batting out of order. You are out for failing to bat in the right order.
2) The next batter is the one whose name follows the last correct batter on the official lineup card.
3) Any pitch to a batter makes her the correct batter.

The bolded part is incorrect....a subsequent pitch to the next batter makes the previous batter's at bat legal.

B6 bats instead of B5 and completes her at bat, B5 comes up and takes a pitch. That pitch makes the at bat by B6 legal and the correct batter should be B7. If appealed at this point, B7 should be brought up and assume the count and complete the at bat.

 

[Indiana]

This exact same scenario happened in one of my son's games. Our team caught the error and appealed after the third time that the offensive team batted out of order. First time didn't notice, second time the inning ended quickly with a double play. The offensive coach felt that since they had batted this way for the entire game, that the entire line-up, as he had it in his scorebook, was legitimized. The correct batter was ruled out, but later on I tried to find a specific ruling for going through the incorrect order several times.

Is there anything written in the rules that explains that, although a pitch to the next batter legitimizes the incorrect batter's at-bat, once the line-up starts over again it should match the official line-up card for the next round through the batting order?

 

[Comp]

Batting out of order is the defenses responsibility to catch. Umpire can do nothing until it is appealed properly, and if a pitch has been thrown to the next batter it is to late to appeal. The entire lineup is never "legitimized" if they are batting out of order. The batting lineup is always what was given to the umpire and cannot be changed other than legal substitutions into it. Regardless of how many times they may have batted incorrectly it is still out of order if the defense catches it and appeals.

 

[honus14]

To clarify, while #6 is at bat she is not the correct batter and could be appealed as being out of order either during the at bat or prior to a pitch to the next batter. #6's at bat is not made legal until a pitch is thrown to the next batter.

The bolded part is incorrect....a subsequent pitch to the next batter makes the previous batter's at bat legal.

Wow, horrible mistake I made there.

Ajaywill and Comp are correct, of course; it should have read as Ajaywill says; a pitch to the NEXT batter makes the PREVIOUS batter legal. I knew what I meant, but I sure didn't write what I meant.