"What if" an Umpire's ruling was legit

[savedfrommyspokes]

As my kids have moved up in their youth baseball careers, I have seen a plethora of bad calls and explanations by youth umpires. Generally speaking, they balance out and are an expected part of the game.

One of my neighbors and I have coached a group of our kids from out neighborhood for the past few years. He spent a few seasons in AA in the Giants organization so he well versed on the nuances of baseball rules.

More so with rulings and explanations after a play, when an umpire applies the wrong ruling, we play a game we call "what if this was the rule".....


In last night's game, the other team with one out and a runner on third had a batter swing/miss at a pitch and was subsequently hit by a pitch. The ball rolled into foul territory and the umpire properly called a strike. However, the runner from third scored. We argued that the ball was dead and the runner couldn't advance. After consulting, the umps agreed it would have been a dead ball IF the batter didn't swing, but since he did swing, it was a live ball. They allowed the run, we protested he game, but won the game.

Now the fun part, the "what if this was the rule" game. All kinds of outcomes are possible with this "new" rule. First, if a batter swings/misses and is hit in the helmet and the ball bounces up in the air and the catcher catches it, the batter would be out with this rule. Another outcome, a team with a runner on third could send a batter up with arm guards wrist to shoulder and encourage their batter to swing and miss with one arm and "lean into" the pitch with the other (protected) arm and attempt to knock the ball into foul territory (where 8 of our players are not allowed to be positioned) to get the run home. If the ball was "live" in cases like this, both scenarios would be possible.

Thankfully baseball's rules have been well thought out so scenarios like this won't occur.....let's hear about some of your "what if this was the rule" outcomes.

[philliesfan]

This is more of a "What would be the rule if this happened". I am sure there is a current rule in place but I don't know what it is.

A batter has 1 strike on him. He fouls the next pitch. The catcher runs 20 feet back looking for the ball in the air but can't locate it because the ball was fouled straight up in the air. The batter sees it coming down to home plate and takes another swing and hits the ball into left field. Is this is hit? What if he swung and missed, is that strike three? Is it interference?

Would be interested to hear the ruling

Thanks,
Robert

[frankbmd]

A few calls in the playoffs involving catcher interference (Grandal I think), a base runner hit by a batted ball (Braun), fan interference (Altuve's lost home run) and runner interference (Machado's aggressive (???) slides to break up double plays), so

I thought the previous post was going to say the catcher finally locates the ball straight up and that it lands on the umpire preventing him from catching it.

Alternatively if an umpire inadvertently diverts or blocks a base runner, is there such a thing as umpire interference?

Or if an umpire is hit by a batted ball is the umpire out?

[scooter729]

If the bat intentionally hits the ball a second time (more realistically, maybe on a bunt?), the batter is out and the play is dead.

If it happens unintentionally (like the batter drops the bat to run and the ball rolls into the bat), and the ball stays fair, the ball is live and in play. If the ball rolls foul, then it's foul.

Originally Posted by philliesfan

This is more of a "What would be the rule if this happened". I am sure there is a current rule in place but I don't know what it is.

A batter has 1 strike on him. He fouls the next pitch. The catcher runs 20 feet back looking for the ball in the air but can't locate it because the ball was fouled straight up in the air. The batter sees it coming down to home plate and takes another swing and hits the ball into left field. Is this is hit? What if he swung and missed, is that strike three? Is it interference?

Would be interested to hear the ruling

Thanks,
Robert

[tschock]

Originally Posted by philliesfan

This is more of a "What would be the rule if this happened". I am sure there is a current rule in place but I don't know what it is.

A batter has 1 strike on him. He fouls the next pitch. The catcher runs 20 feet back looking for the ball in the air but can't locate it because the ball was fouled straight up in the air. The batter sees it coming down to home plate and takes another swing and hits the ball into left field. Is this is hit? What if he swung and missed, is that strike three? Is it interference?

Would be interested to hear the ruling

Thanks,
Robert

What I would rule (not referencing any playbook) is a dead ball, similar if a batter fouled off the ball and it hit himself. Only Bugs Bunny can pitch 3 strikes with a single throw. All this assuming that the catcher didn't have a chance at the catch, which if so, would then be batter interference and the batter would be out (interference being a judgement call).

[philliesfan]

Bric-a Brac-a Firecracker
Sis-boom-Bah
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny
Rah Rah Rah

Bric-a Brac-a Firecracker
Sis-boom-Bah
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny
Rah Rah Rah

Repeat several times faster each time..........