Umpire chuckle of the day

[Dabears17]

10u rec league game. Inside pitch, hits player on hands, not over plate. Replay in my mind to make sure it hit the hands, not the bat.

me: “Dead Ball! Take your base!”
parent behind me “Aren’t the hands part of the bat?”
me to my partner in between innings, “Funny, none of the bats I’ve bought over the years came with a pair of hands attached”

 

[Strike2]

10u rec league game. Inside pitch, hits player on hands, not over plate. Replay in my mind to make sure it hit the hands, not the bat.

me: “Dead Ball! Take your base!”
parent behind me “Aren’t the hands part of the bat?”
me to my partner in between innings, “Funny, none of the bats I’ve bought over the years came with a pair of hands attached”

Amazing how certain myths get passed down from generation to generation.

 

[jdint]

Amazing how certain myths get passed down from generation to generation.

I've always wondered if this gets confused with "hands are part of the ball" in basketball.

 

[_MIA_]

I've always wondered if this gets confused with "hands are part of the ball" in basketball.

"Brain is not part of their body" would be a better explanation..

 

[uncdrew]

I gotta say I kinda like the "hands are part of the bat" and I'd make the rule that way if I was making the rules.

 

[Dabears17]

What was real interesting is local rec rule is after the 2nd HBP/walk of an inning in 10u the balls reset to zero and the coach comes in to pitch. What is the ruling in continuous batting if the player is unable to continue her at bat? She can't get a walk in coach pitch.

Luckily the UIC was my partner, so I let him deal with it.

 

[eddieq]

What was real interesting is local rec rule is after the 2nd HBP/walk of an inning in 10u the balls reset to zero and the coach comes in to pitch. What is the ruling in continuous batting if the player is unable to continue her at bat? She can't get a walk in coach pitch.

Luckily the UIC was my partner, so I let him deal with it.

USA does deal with this as they allow "multiple EP's in pool play". Rules Supplement 18 lays out (bold emphasis mine).

Pool Play Only: Multiple EP’s may be used, they must be indicated on the line-up card
at the start of the game. If an injury occurs the line-up is compressed with no penalty.
May not continue with less than eight players.

So skip her unless you fall below 8. Most of the time, local leagues with continuous batting orders have that spelled out, but if not, I deal with it that way.

 

[Dabears17]

USA does deal with this as they allow "multiple EP's in pool play". Rules Supplement 18 lays out (bold emphasis mine).


So skip her unless you fall below 8. Most of the time, local leagues with continuous batting orders have that spelled out, but if not, I deal with it that way.

What we did since she could not finish the at bat, was let the next batter come in and assume the count, after the other coach agreed. Will have to let the UIC figure out what it should be under local rules and add a clarification if necessary.

What is the call-in normal tournament ball if a batter cannot finish an at bat? An out, right? In the past as a coach, I have told a player to not swing and hope for a walk. This is why well-meaning local rules cause headaches.

 

[eddieq]

Typical umpire, I'm blind. Didn't see the part about her still being at bat.

I can get behind the "next batter assumes the count and coach pitches" in the way that you would handle a BOO appeal while the batter was still up. The proper batter takes the place of the improper batter and assumes the count. Since an injury occurred, you compress the lineup, the proper batter would be the next batter after the injured player.

Again, local rules and headaches. I make a nuisance out of myself with my assignors and league presidents by asking these kind of wild "what if" questions. I always want to know what to do in those cases. Sometimes I "shoot from the hip" and tell the coaches how we will handle that one. Usually it's not a problem unless one of the coaches is looking for a cheap out. At that point, the coach of the injured player usually just says, "Fine, we'll take the out and move on".

 

[The Man In Blue]

Varsity softball game earlier this week. Batter swings and the ball gets her hands then the bat and goes fair. I heard the soft thud then the hard tap and see her waving her hands as she starts to run. I kill it and call her out on the dead ball strike (it was strike 3).

Coach comes down and asks what I called her out for. I explain. He breaks out the old "hands are part of the bat" argument. I ask him if he saw what his batter did after I killed it.

He said, "Yes, she waved her hands at me. I'm not arguing that it didn't hit her hands."
I said, "So we agree it hit her hands. Did the bat wave at you?"

He laughed and walked away.