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Hit by Pitch

coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
I was watching the South Carolina / Clemson game tonight in a drinking establishment that has some great burgers with some buddies. In the game a pitch came inside and initially looked like the pitch hit the SC batter in the forearm. He takes off for first base and the plate ump holds him there. Come to find out the pitch hit the knob of the bat and not his forearm - great call after seeing it in closeup slow motion.

Anyway - before the replay one of my buddies was wondering why they kept the batter at the plate because the hitter leaned back. He said that what the hitter did was making an attempt to get out of the way and should get first. I made the comment that in college you don't have to make the attempt to get out of the way. Only thing a batter has to do is stay in the box and not interfere with the catcher. He disagreed and I said the make an attempt was at the high school level and I think pro level but college is different.

So my questions - Am I correct in this? I feel 95% sure that I am correct on the rule after reading it in here somewhere. Plus - where would you find the rule reference so I can prove this to him? I'm trying to talk him into betting me another steak dinner on this.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

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F 3FingeredGlove1,000+ posts
Coach,
Anyone can download the NCAA baseball rules for free.
The written rule is a little different from your paraphrase. 8-2d:
d. When hit by a pitched ball at which the individual is not attempting to strike;
A.R.—If the batter intentionally gets touched by moving or rolling any part of the body into the pitch, the umpire shall call a strike or ball in accordance with Rules 7-4 and 7-5.
(1) If the batter is hit by a pitch in the strike zone, the pitch is a strike, the ball is dead, no runners may advance and the batter is not awarded first base.
(2) If the batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball and the pitch is out of the strike zone, the pitch shall be called a ball. The ball is dead, no runners may advance and the batter is not awarded first base.
A.R.—If the batter freezes and is hit by a pitch that is clearly inside the vertical lines of
the batter’s box, the ball is dead and the batter is awarded first base.
(3) If the pitch is ball four, the batter shall be awarded first base and credited for being hit by the pitch (the ball is immediately dead).

So (2) requires an attempt to get out of the way. The unusual part of the rules revolves around a pitch which itself is in the vertical extension of the batter's box. That's different than requiring the batter to be in the box--which is only determined by his feet. The batter needs to have "frozen", but I think many NCAA umpires will award 1st on any pitch which is inside the lines of the box.
Last edited by 3FingeredGlove
coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
Thanks 3 fingeredglove - I guess I won't be bringing this topic back up next time we get together.

In the situation above if the ball had hit him he definately would have been sent to first but the ump did a great job of seeing / hearing it hit the knob.

The number two that you highlighted may explain something that happened later in the game. Right hander on the mound and he throws a low and in curve to a LH hitter. The pitch broke hard and went into the dirt. It looked like the ball hit the batters foot the way it shot towards the 3B side but he didn't get first. I have no idea what the pitch hit but only thing I can think of to make it shoot the way it did was hit the batter in the foot. The batter didn't move or make any attempt to move nor did he really make an attempt to take first. Now that I think about it I have no earthly idea what happened.
Jimmy03Jimmy031,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by coach2709:

I made the comment that in college you don't have to make the attempt to get out of the way. Only thing a batter has to do is stay in the box


"Mostly" correct.

quote:
and not interfere with the catcher.


Close...change that to not move into the pitch and you have the essence, if not the wording.

NCAA has tinkered with this interp, revoking it for awhile and then bringing it back. Basic enforcement when I have the plate is that if the batter does nothing to cause the HBP and he's in the batter's box, he's got first.

In my opinion, this would make sense in all codes. The batter should have the righ not to expect a pitch in the batter's box and there is no good reason to reward the pitcher for throwing there.
Last edited by Jimmy03
Rob KremerRob Kremer1,000+ posts
The FED rule is different, correct? The NCAA rule is that a batter doesn't have to make an attempt to avoid on a pitch inside the batters box, but if the pitch is simply inside, and not in the box, if he freezes and is HBP, it is just called a ball.

But in FED rules (is this correct?) a batter has to attempt to avoid no matter where the pitch is.
Jimmy03Jimmy031,000+ posts
The first reference to HBP in FED is very poorly written, and, if anyone enforced it literally, the the buses would be full of ejected coaches and players.

FED 7-3 A Batter Shall Not
Art. 4 ...Permit a pitched ball to touch him.
Pen.: The batter remains at bat (Pitch is a ball or stike), unless pitch was a third strike.

Later we find:

FED 8-1 A batter becomes a reunner...when:
d. a pitched ball hits his person or clothing , provided he does not strike at the ball...
Exception: If he makes no effort to avoid being hit, or if the umpire calls the pitched ball a strike, the hitting of the batter is disregarded except that the ball is dead. It is a strike or ball depending on the location of the pitch.

What constitutes "effort to avoid being hit" is in the judgement of the umpire.

So, unlike NCAA minding one's own business in the batter's box does not protect the batter from having to expending "effort to avoid."

It should. But we don't enforce what "should". We enforce what the rulesmakers (coaches and AD's) give us.
Last edited by Jimmy03

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