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Is this legal and has it ever been done...?
Scenario: The count is 0-2 and the batter needs to get on base (bases empty). The pitcher hurls a hard breaking ball in the dirt and gets away from the catcher. As soon as the batter sees that the ball gets away from the catcher, he swings his bat and runs to first.
So the batter purposely swung at a passed ball so it would be a strike-out and he could run to first to get on base.
Is this legal? Have you seen it happen before?
4 Answers
- dawgdaysLv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
Your question comes from a misunderstanding about what makes a swing a strike. Rule 2.00 STRIKE says, in part: "A STRIKE is a legal pitch that is struck at by the batter and is missed."
It's not a strike because the bat crosses the plate, though lots of people have this misconception. It is possible to check your swing even though the bat crosses the plate. If a batter bails on an inside pitch and the bat crosses the plate, it's not a strike because he's not "striking at the pitch."
So, in your situation, the pitch has gotten past the catcher, so even if the batter then swings, he's not "striking at" the pitch, so it's not a strike. So it can't be a third strike not caught, rule 6.09(b) does not apply, so the batter does not become a runner.
[And no, the ball is NOT dead if the pitch bounces as mrchowrules/NickelbackFan state. Batters have hit home runs on pitches that have bounced. Runners can take a base on a wild pitch/passed ball. And it is treated the same way, runners on or not. (mrchowrules says, "Baseball rules state...." I'd like to see him try to provide a rules reference, since I know there's no such rule.)]
Source(s): I'm an umpire. I suspect you could tell. - Anonymous9 years ago
Dawgdays is correct.
It comes down to the definition of what it means to strike at the pitch and how the umpire calls it.
Most people don't notice, but the umpire actually calls a strike on a swing & miss. This is because its a judgement call for the umpire to determine whether or not the batter swung. Most of the time its obvious so the umpire just casually makes a fist to be technical but nobody pays attention to it. On a bunt attempt or check swing, the umpire will emphasise the call by pointing at the hitter, yelling "he went" and making his strike call.
So basically, the play you described is perfectly legal but its up to the umpire to determine whetehr or not the batter actually swung at the pitch. If the ball was already passed the catcher before the batter swings, the umpire shouldn't call it a strike. If the umpire does call it a strike, it would be perfectly legal for the batter to run to 1st base.
- 9 years ago
Baseball rules state that that, if there are no men on base, AND if the ball passes the catcher BEFORE a swing is made, the ball is dead.
