Feet out of the box!

[BigZigBlue]

Guys I want to make sure that my ruling and call is correct on the situation I had tonight on a play I had during a Junior High game. B1 squares around to bunt with back foot directly behind (towards catcher) the point on the plate. Makes contact and ball is fair. I signal delayed dead ball and verbally say ," Batter is out , foot out of box." Meanwhile R1 is on second base and R1 advances to third on the bunt. NOW, no one complained or questioned the call (except coach wanting to know where B1 had stepped at. But my partner asked me in the middle of the inning should we have sent R1 back to the base that was occupied? I said no because it was a DELAYED DEAD BALL situation and that R1 can be put out on the play since the ball was fair........Just let me know if we blew the call or not!

[Forest Ump]

If the batter made contact with his foot entirely out of the box when he batted the ball, then you would come up from your stance and very loudly proclaim "TIME. THAT'S AN ILLEGALLY BATTED BALL. BATTER YOU ARE OUT."

Return all runners to TOP occupied base. No delayed dead ball. Fair or foul has no bearing on the call.

[yawetag]

OBR 6.06; Fed 7-3-2 and Penalty.

[BigZigBlue]

what about DIXIE??? I know what it is for OBR and FED......i guess we got by with one and the league director which is also the dixie district director is wrg because I asked him and he said we did right.

[yawetag]

You still got it wrong.

6.06—A batter is out for illegal action when (a) Hitting an illegally batted ball (See Rule 2:00—Definitions);

An ILLEGALLY BATTED BALL is one hit by the batter with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter’s box. [Rule 6.06(a).]

[JaxRolo]

I agree. Immediate "Time Batter's Out"

[BigZigBlue]

Well me and the partner got by with one then lol. Didn't affect the game at all because next pitch was a dribbler to the pitcher and play at first base to make the third out of the inning. Appreciate ya'll helping me defuse the confusion I had last night. Sorry for getting it wrong i pretty sure I seem like an idiot on that, but never had it happen to me with the ball being fair.

[JaxRolo]

You are not an idiot. That's what we are all here for.

God knows I've had my share of screw ups.

[Mr Umpire]

Just look at it this way. Hopefully, you won't miss it again now that you know how it should be handled.

[BigZigBlue]

well I pride myself on making the right calls and being consistent behind the plate because that's what the game wants and needs.

[mstaylor]

Making a mistake because you had never seen it before is no big deal, just remember it and get it right the next time you see it. You being here asking about means you were concerned and wanted confirmation. Good job.

[mazzamouth]

Guys I want to make sure that my ruling and call is correct on the situation I had tonight on a play I had during a Junior High game. B1 squares around to bunt with back foot directly behind (towards catcher) the point on the plate. Makes contact and ball is fair. I signal delayed dead ball and verbally say ," Batter is out , foot out of box." Meanwhile R1 is on second base and R1 advances to third on the bunt. NOW, no one complained or questioned the call (except coach wanting to know where B1 had stepped at. But my partner asked me in the middle of the inning should we have sent R1 back to the base that was occupied? I said no because it was a DELAYED DEAD BALL situation and that R1 can be put out on the play since the ball was fair........Just let me know if we blew the call or not!

If in your judgment, the batter was out of the box ( foot or feet need to be entirely out of the box) then it is a automatic dead ball, batter is out, and runners return to there base at the TOP.

[JaxRolo]

I had this 3 times last season and always called dead immediately

[detailshp]

Your not an idiot. In a 36 team 18U travel ball tournament last year in the game to decide winner goes to play for the championship, I had the exact same play. The O coach went utterly ballistic when I called the batter out and called time immediately. Every cuss word in the book, PLUS a Pinella rant. On an 18U national travel ball team. TWO ejections later from the O side, play resumed and they lost, because they lost their composure and had no coach in the dugout. At least you didnt have that.

[tjthresh]

I had this situation last year as well. The difference here is that it was the third game of the day, and the batters box was gone. The batter took a hack and missed. It was clear to me that his lead foot was out of the batters box. I told him that he needed to adjust because he was close to being out of the box. The next pitch he drove to right center and his lead foot was clearly out in front of the plate. I killed it immediately and called the batter out. The coach used the "what batters box" defense. I explained to him that it wasn't even close. Coach was not happy.

[mstaylor]

I have called it with no box where they step in front of the plate. When the coach ask how can I tell where it is, I tell him it sure isn't in front of the plate. Never lost a coach yet.

[Guest]

I've made this call once, in a provincial championship no less. It happened sans batters box. The batter squared to bunt and his back foot ended up right behind the plate. When he went to take off for first, he left a massive footprint clearly out of the box.

So "time! time! That's illegally batted. Batter, you're out. You, back to first."

Out comes the coach "how can you call that, there's no chalk on the ground?"

"Well John, see that massive footprint directly behind the point of the plate?"

"Yea, what about it?"

"Can we both agree that, if there was chalk, it would very clearly be out of the box?"

"Oh for sure, what're you getting at?"

"Your batter left that. That's where his back foot was when he made contact with the ball."

"Oh. OK. Thanks."

[mstaylor]

I save a lot of words and tell them lines or not, the plate is always between the boxes. Enforce 11.03g and go on.

[SnareDrum]

But is there not a little difference between OBR and FED on WHERE the foot is? If the batter steps on the plate at contact, but his heel is still on the line of the box (possible with a big foot) he's not "completely out" of the box. In FED (7-3-2) if you step on the plate at contact, out. In OBR it's play on.

I get the privilege of working a city league with HS players and coaches, but we use OBR rules... This is a BIG diff that pops up every couple of weeks. Especially a couple of nights later when the same thing happens in a HS Rules game, with the same team and coaches. They're catching on...

[sdix00]

But is there not a little difference between OBR and FED on WHERE the foot is? If the batter steps on the plate at contact, but his heel is still on the line of the box (possible with a big foot) he's not "completely out" of the box. In FED (7-3-2) if you step on the plate at contact, out. In OBR it's play on.

I get the privilege of working a city league with HS players and coaches, but we use OBR rules... This is a BIG diff that pops up every couple of weeks. Especially a couple of nights later when the same thing happens in a HS Rules game, with the same team and coaches. They're catching on...

BRD and J/R are your friends here.

"Coach, there are 128 differences between HS and pro rules, and you just learned one of them. 127 to go. Let's play"

[SnareDrum]

But is there not a little difference between OBR and FED on WHERE the foot is? If the batter steps on the plate at contact, but his heel is still on the line of the box (possible with a big foot) he's not "completely out" of the box. In FED (7-3-2) if you step on the plate at contact, out. In OBR it's play on.

I get the privilege of working a city league with HS players and coaches, but we use OBR rules... This is a BIG diff that pops up every couple of weeks. Especially a couple of nights later when the same thing happens in a HS Rules game, with the same team and coaches. They're catching on...

BRD and J/R are your friends here.

"Coach, there are 128 differences between HS and pro rules, and you just learned one of them. 127 to go. Let's play"

...and yes I MEANT to say, "In OBR it's play on if batters foot touches the plate AND part of the same foot is still in the box." 127 to go!!

[catsbackr]

But is there not a little difference between OBR and FED on WHERE the foot is? If the batter steps on the plate at contact, but his heel is still on the line of the box (possible with a big foot) he's not "completely out" of the box. In FED (7-3-2) if you step on the plate at contact, out. In OBR it's play on.

I get the privilege of working a city league with HS players and coaches, but we use OBR rules... This is a BIG diff that pops up every couple of weeks. Especially a couple of nights later when the same thing happens in a HS Rules game, with the same team and coaches. They're catching on...

BRD and J/R are your friends here.

"Coach, there are 128 differences between HS and pro rules, and you just learned one of them. 127 to go. Let's play"

I kind of doubt I would say that.

[calablue]

what about DIXIE??? I know what it is for OBR and FED......i guess we got by with one and the league director which is also the dixie district director is wrg because I asked him and he said we did right.

Dixie uses OBR with some of their own modifications. Similar to Babe Ruth.

[noumpere]

I kind of doubt I would say that.

While I wouldn't use that exact phrase, I have often said something like That's the pro rule but in HS its different.

[mstaylor]

If they question a Fed rule and give me the OBR version, I tell them,"Fed specific." If they want to argue, I tell them to write Indianapolis.