Hitting with foot out of the batters box

[Rockjerry]

I was noticing in the NCAA tournament the number of slap hitters. I didn't see an instance of this but what if the batters foot was outside of the batters box when they hit the ball? When I played the batter was ruled out.
What if the batter steps on or over the plate. Again, when I played the batter was out. I'm not sure if those rules still apply today or can they vary depending on which set of rules you use (ASA, USSSA, etc).
If a batted ball hits the batter would the batter be out if only one foot is out of the batters box or do both have to be?

 

[JAD]

If the batter makes contact with the ball while their foot is outside the batters box, they should be called out. Have seen it a few times, but it is not called often enough IMHO.

 

[djcarter1966]

I think the rule is the foot has to be completely out of the box which means if the back heel is on the chalk (which of course is non existent by the 2nd inning) she is OK.

I did actually see a couple instances in the WCWS where the batter looked completely out of the box but I don't think it was ever called

 

[quincy]

If it matter the entire foot must be touching the ground outside the lines at contact, there is a lot going on here and I think it needs to be really blatant to be called.

 

[JAD]

Where is Comp when we need him???

 

[texas4life]

They did miss a few calls and a few were really close due to the heel being so close to the line, but I will give it to the blues they did catch the foot on the plate a lot during the tournament. You have to remember the 1st duty of the blue is to watch the pitch then he can focus on the feet of the batter.

 

[Rockjerry]

I would think the a base umpire has a better opportunity to see a foot infraction than the PU. He's busy watching the pitch. Not sure if the BU has the ability to make that call though

 

[Ajaywill]

When all of the bucket coaches and TV viewers have to do is watch the feet, you can usually see enough to make this call.

As a PU, however, your first and most important priority is watching that yellow sphere coming at you at 50+ MPH.....
The location of the foot at the time of contact has to be picked up with peripheral vision, so it needs to be blatantly obvious to be called.

The BU, from 70 or so feet away has no angle to see this call.

 

[djcarter1966]

Not to mention without a line, which there is not after a couple innings, it is harder to see both as a PU or BU. Base umpires can usually see when the batter steps in front of the plate but no base umpire is going to overrule the plate umpire on that call since the PU is 5 feet vs 70 ft away (maybe after the fact if they conference for help but not as the umpire to make the call in the first place). The only time I've seen BU interject is if they clearly see a ball hit off a player in the box because that is a dead ball.

 

[Spero Koulouras]

In a high school game the same plate ump made 2 "out of the box" calls that did not get disputed against slappers. We had video going (which by rule cannot be checked during a game) which clearly demonstrated that in both cases the batters had executed well and the front foot had not come down. Both calls benefited our side, and our coach took great pride in the fact that he knew the opponent, knew they would be slapping and had stressed this point with the PU before the game.[video]https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=723919531053244[/video]