Hit by pitch

quote:

Originally posted by bryon:
Did not understand a call from last night. Count is 3-2, pitcher throws curve ball and hits batter. Umpire said player leaned into pitch and was out. I looked up rule and think he should have 1.) called srike 3, batter out or 2.)ball four. I do not see where leaning into a pitch is an out in the rule book?

Thanks in advance.

What don't you get? Batter leaned in and was hit by pitch, umpire rules the pitch a strike. Count was 3-2, now batter has strike three, he's out.

Sounds like it was handled correctly.

If he was calling him out for leaning into the pitch, he would be wrong. It may have been a case where he was saying the ball was in the zone and the batter leaned into it. It may have been a bad explanation of a good call.

Sorry maybe I was not clear, he never called "strike 3" he just said "batter leaned in or moved into pitch.. he is out." If he said srike 3 he out I would understand... further more the ball appeared to be inside and high adding to confusion.

Thanks for response, I think I have my answer... you cannot call someone out for leaning into a pitch... you just call it a ball or srike.

I looked in the rule book and thoguht that was the answer but just wanted to make sure.

Again, thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by bryon:
you cannot call someone out for leaning into a pitch... you just call it a ball or srike.

I looked in the rule book and thought that was the answer but just wanted to make sure.

Again, thanks.

That would be correct, as an umpire you can not call a batter out from leaning into a pitch.....you can keep him at the plate and not award a HBP.....you would call the pitch whatever it was.....a ball or if it was in the zone a strike....

Sounds as if MST may have nailed this....... a bad explanation of a right call.....

I think I know the answer to this, but I want to ask anyway...

If there is a runner attempting to steal and the batter leans into a pitch, I would assume the runner is returned to his original base? With the ball hitting the batter, there would be almost no way to attempt to throw the runner out. Could this be considered interference, or just a ball/strike with runner(s) returning to their original base?

In all codes, if any pitch hits the batter, the ball is always dead, and all runners return unless forced to advance.

Doesn't matter if the batter leaned in or not, the ball is always dead if he is hit by the pitch.

Remember the ball is always dead when it hits the batter, no matter why. Once he is touched by the ball you decide what happens. If it's a pitch the it is either a HBP, a ball that is going to keep him in the box or a strike that is going to keep him in the the box. The exceptions would be ball four or strike three respectively. He could also be hit by a batted ball, which is going to be either a foul ball or an out because it was fair. In all cases any runners will return unless forced by the BR.

the batter appeared to lean in on a pitch, but even if not is he not required to make an attempt to avoid being hit.

quote:

Originally posted by JT007:
the batter appeared to lean in on a pitch, but even if not is he not required to make an attempt to avoid being hit.

He is not awarded 1st if he makes no effort to avoid being hit. However, if the pitch is in the batter's box, I don't know of any umpires who would call that. If the pitch is that bad, I'll give him the base, although that is not really the HS rule.

fair enough

quote:

Originally posted by dash_riprock:

quote:

Originally posted by JT007:
the batter appeared to lean in on a pitch, but even if not is he not required to make an attempt to avoid being hit.

He is not awarded 1st if he makes no effort to avoid being hit. However, if the pitch is in the batter's box, I don't know of any umpires who would call that. If the pitch is that bad, I'll give him the base, although that is not really the HS rule.

I will keep him if he truly gives me nothing or watches a curve ball hit him. If he gets frozen on a pitch running in on him, he is going to first.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael S. Taylor:

quote:

Originally posted by dash_riprock:

quote:

Originally posted by JT007:
the batter appeared to lean in on a pitch, but even if not is he not required to make an attempt to avoid being hit.

He is not awarded 1st if he makes no effort to avoid being hit. However, if the pitch is in the batter's box, I don't know of any umpires who would call that. If the pitch is that bad, I'll give him the base, although that is not really the HS rule.

I will keep him if he truly gives me nothing or watches a curve ball hit him. If he gets frozen on a pitch running in on him, he is going to first.

Agreed, this is a judgement call and is one of the reasons I get paid.