Hit by pitch

Jacques

First lets look at the explanation the web page gives on this.

"3. This is the corollary to Situation 1. (iii) above. I hear this one a lot when a slow pitch is coming at the batter, and he barely moves, gets hit by the pitch, and happily starts running towards 1st base. If he stands absolutely motionless as the pitch is coming, then the umpire may decide to not award him 1st base, but as long as he makes the slightest twitch, then by rule he is awarded the base.

It is not up to the umpire to judge how hard the batter tried to avoid being hit by the pitch. It only matters that an attempt was made, no matter how feeble it was. The rule says he does not get a base only if he makes "no attempt to avoid being touched”

The hit by pitch is an important concept to understand. To call this well you must think about a basic concept of baseball rules."

Who made the mistake?

example 1: The batter is crowding the plate, the pitcher pitches inside near the strike zone and hits the batter who makes no attempt to move.

You should answer these questions.
Who is in error?
Pitcher or batter. The pitcher should have the right to pitch inside, the batter by rule is required to attempt to avoid contact. The pitcher has hit or come very close to hitting his attempted spot. So I leave you these questions on this example

Who should be punished?
How does your decision affect the rest of the game?

What do you decide based on these questions?

Example 2: The batter is in a normal batting position, The pitcher attempts to throw a curve ball that does not break but hits the batter in the middle of the batters box. The batter was expecting the ball to break and did not have time to move when the ball did not break towards the plate.

Who is in error?

Pitcher or Batter

Who should be punished?
How does your decision affect the rest of the game?

What do you decide based on these questions?

If you examine the purpose of the rule. The rule is designed so batters cannot intentionally get hit by a pitch. Any movement, flinch, or last second twist of the body can be interpreted as an attempt to get out of the way. This should be used wisely, If the pitch is a reasonably good pitch and the batter let himself get hit, he should not be awarded a base. Of course if the pitch is a strike it should be called a strike.

If the pitcher missed his spot badly and the batter failed to get out of the way due to surprise or inability to figure out where to go. He should be awarded first base. It is generally accepted that you still award first if the pitch is behind them or in the middle of the box. Even if they get frozen and do not make a decipherable attempt to move.

Now some coach is going to yell he did not attempt to move. If he has approached you correctly explain, the pitch was a bad pitch and the batter had no idea where to go. If he presses tell him coach, he flinched, at the last second, when he realized it was going to hit him and that is good enough for me.

Now the bigger problem we have is batters rolling into pitches that were not going to hit them. Because coaches are teaching them to get hit. Be ready to stop these actions right away so you are not faced with a coach asking why his got kept there and the other teams batter got first base.

Best when you see someone leaning give them a warning right away. Do not wait until they get hit. Put the word out on rolling your shoulder or arm into the way of pitches.

My response when this happens is Coach the ball did not hit him. He hit the ball. He stays here. If the coach tells you the batter was doing what he teaches them to do. Let the coach know that if he is teaching kids to get hit, You would be happy to write a report stating that to the school and league. Part of our job as officials is to report any unsafe behavior or actions to the appropriate people.

Hope these thoughts help you. This type of call requires good judgment and the ability to explain what you did. Coaches will leave you alone if they find you can back up your actions with clear explanations.

Dan

Most of these questions I have already asked myself but I thank you for your insight on how to speak with coaches about this in a discussion. I generally will tell coaches just as you stated when kids lean into pitches that they hit the ball and the pitch did not hit them. Like you stated most coaches know that their kids are at fault when they roll in and are subject to be kept at the plate. Thanks again, I'm am sure throughout the meetings we will get to discuss this concept further. See you next month.