I had this the other night. Let's see how you would call it.
Pitcher pitches and it's going to hit the batter. The batter, doesn't turn his back into the ball, instead he turns into the ball. The bat doesn't leave his shoulder until he realizes he is going to get hit in the gut. At that point he bring his hands (still holding the bat) down the block the ball. The coach start screaming that he broke the plane. I ruled that he was protecting himself and I didn't rule a swing. Was I right or wrong?
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No swing. There's no rule whether it breaks a plane or not. The rule is whether the batter attempted at the pitch. In this situation, the batter never attempted to hit the pitch.
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely correct. I got blasted that if the bat crosses the plane, it's a swing, even if there is no intent on swinging.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think it matters how old the players are. I think for younger players, they don't know any better so that's how they would react to the pitch.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that these were older kids, I may have called that a swing. Imagine if the player was trying to avoid the pitch, but instead of moving the bat forward to block the ball from hitting him, he curls himself forward and brings the bat forward with him, trying to avoid a pitch coming towards his head. That would be a swing and called a strike. I don't agree with yawetag - I think you could make an argument that he swung.
I would like to correct myself - I think yawetag is correct. I just received a memo from the president of the Iowa High School Athletic Association addressing this (see last page). If the player is trying to avoid the pitch, then it is just a dead ball and he get's first base.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.iahsaa.org/officials/2011%20BS%20LETTER%202.pdf