GIMNEPIWO wrote:Comp wrote:This ump said she swung, but said the ball hit her first (ran into it) and awarded her the base.
Guess I would have to see the play in person because I cant see how the umpire could say she swang at the pitch, but was hit first and awarded the base.
Of course HTBT ... But at what point do we say that the batter is HBP ? Once the batter is HBP (or dead ball strike ), isn't the ball dead ? If the ball is dead as in HBP, how can the batter swing at it ?
That, and what AI quoted his umpire as saying, are both pretty stupid things for an umpire to say. And I've heard a lot of stupid things.
If the bat had even begun to swing when the batter is contacted, and the bat entered the hitting zone (not checked before then), or appeared to be an effort to contact the ball (YES, EVEN IN SELF DEFENSE), then it is a dead ball strike according to the rules. The batter doesn't get a pass because she is a slapper and runs forward to contact the ball before it would have reached her, all the same rules apply.
I am hoping that AI may have paraphrased what his umpire actually told him. If the batter attempts to contact the the ball with the bat, of course it is a "swing" or "attempt", and thus a strike. Could it be the umpire acknowledged that the bat may have entered the hitting zone, but that the arm action (in his judgment) appeared to be attempting to avoid the ball rather than to contact it? That case could be a HBP award rather than a dead ball strike. But if he said exactly what he was quoted as saying, dead ball wrong. And grounds for protest.
I say entering the "hitting zone" rather than crossing the plate, because so many batters are so far forward (slappers, particularly), and others so far back in the batter's box that the bat actually crossing the plate might not even happen in a full swing.
Finally, Comp: Really?? "swang"??