Question about sliding into home

[Carty]

The on deck batter should not clear it, nor should the umpire. On deck would be altering part of the field, and the ump would be giving an advantage to one side or the other.

 

[MTR]

The on deck batter should not clear it, nor should the umpire. On deck would be altering part of the field, and the ump would be giving an advantage to one side or the other.

The ODB should clear the bat if there is time to do so without interfering with the play. The umpire should not clear it because it is not the umpire's equipment. The umpire shouldn't touch anything that doesn't belong to them with the exception of the balls going in or coming out of the bag.

 

[jazz10NE]

My daughter is a catcher and will clear it if she has time, keeps her from stepping on it and causing herself injury.

Also have seen umpires make a quick move to clear the bat when they can and the catcher doesn't. In either case I am glad they do for the sake of safety on all players parts.

 

[MTR]

My daughter is a catcher and will clear it if she has time, keeps her from stepping on it and causing herself injury.

Also have seen umpires make a quick move to clear the bat when they can and the catcher doesn't. In either case I am glad they do for the sake of safety on all players parts.

The safest thing would be for the batters to take it with them. No rule stating the batter must discard the bat at the plate or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[stickemup]

The catcher should never touch the bat. That isn't her job. It was the batter's responsibility to properly dispose of the bat.
Is this rec ball and very young girls? I don't see an age group or reference to the girls ability.

Hi Amy, This is High School JV level. Most of these girls are travel players.

As far as the catcher never touching the bat goes, I feel that it really does have a chance at costing them an injury as well. When I was a catcher I always tried to clear it out. If a ball is thrown off line and a catcher has to scramble to get to it they run the risk of stepping on the bat and that can be very bad for ankles and such. Not to mention the possibility of a pitcher having to come in and cover home plate. If they are watching for the ball and step on a bat you can lose a pitcher for a season really fast. In that sense it benefits everybody for the catcher to clear it if they have time.

In a perfect world, I agree that the batter should attempt to clear the bat from the field upon letting it go. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world. If a coach notices one of their players consistently dropping the bat right in the way they should try to address it.

My daughter has played travel ball since she was 8 and she's 15 now. This was the first time she encountered this scenario. I don't think it really happens all that frequently so I just wanted to know what other folks thoughts were on this.

Thanks for the input everyone.