Hit by Pitch - and I kept him at the plate

[mtnump]

I had a kid on Saturday that stood solidly in the box and let a very slow curve ball hit him in the front leg. When I say let, it was obvious the he just kept his foot planted and made no attempt whatsoever to get out of the way.  Right handed batter and pitcher.  Ball hits him, he takes off for first and I bring him back.  I let my Area Rep know of this after he emailed asking what we had all seen so far this season.  He says I should have awarded first base...

 

Rule 8.1.1.d.1 states the HBP is disregarded if the batter permits the ball to hit him.  Am I missing something?

[BalkHawk]

no, your area rep is missing something.

[grayhawk]

Depends on how far inside it was.  In HS, if F1 throws in the batter's box and the batter doesn't move, I am awarding first.  Basically, he has to make some move INTO the pitch for me to keep him at the plate.  If the defense complains, then maybe they shouldn't throw it in the batter's box.

[SnareDrum]

Good call.

 

In girls FP, they edited the rule so that if the pitch is in the batter's box (out of the strike zone), they don't have to move. Of course, they can't lean into it either. In baseball, it's not an attempt to get out of the way. It's "the batter shall not permit the ball to hit him"... to me... means that he shall not permit the ball to hit him. Respectfully, NO, I'm not going to just let him stand motionless. They should be coached with the rule so that they do what we've all seen: at the least, turn your back. Give me some sort of movement to work with.  Any batter that freezes and lets it hit him in the box is going to see at least one more pitch in that AB, unless there were three balls at TOP.

[mtnump]

I had 2 more HBP in that game...one was the big curve that the batter turned his shoulder on and the other was a kid frozen by a pretty decent fastball.  They both got their award.  The OP kid was staring at a big dot curve that was moving slower than molasses and didn't break.

[SnareDrum]

A nasty fastball would be my exception

 

I had 2 more HBP in that game...one was the big curve that the batter turned his shoulder on and the other was a kid frozen by a pretty decent fastball.  They both got their award.  The OP kid was staring at a big dot curve that was moving slower than molasses and didn't break.

A nasty fastball... yeah that would probably be an exception. With these two, I'd have one staying, and one HBP.

[Minnz]

If there is any type of flinch I am giving him the base.  In he is in batters box and makes any movement that is not diving into the pitch he gets the bag.  Box belongs to batter, pitcher needs to find the zone better.  Basically don't dive at it batter and I let you have first base.  I used to be a lot harder on keeping kids in the box and not awarding but have seen the light.  I blame the pitcher for having bad location.

[JaxRolo]

The ball does not belong in the box.

I will only keep a batter if I see him move towards the incoming ball. Like throwing an elbow in or a leg.

Otherwise he's going to first.

[Jocko]

Funny, in our preseason meetings we covered this. The exception was the big loopy curve that doesn't break enough.

If that pitch hits him he can take it and get his HBP. Basically, if I'm execting it to curve, he probably is too and not 'allowing' the pitch to hit him. It just didnt break. HBP

[mstaylor]

I had a kid on Saturday that stood solidly in the box and let a very slow curve ball hit him in the front leg. When I say let, it was obvious the he just kept his foot planted and made no attempt whatsoever to get out of the way.  Right handed batter and pitcher.  Ball hits him, he takes off for first and I bring him back.  I let my Area Rep know of this after he emailed asking what we had all seen so far this season.  He says I should have awarded first base...

 

Rule 8.1.1.d.1 states the HBP is disregarded if the batter permits the ball to hit him.  Am I missing something?

You are missing nothing. Saying the batter can stand stock still and let it hit him and keep him there is wrong. It goes against both the letter of the rule and the spirit of the rule. You can not apply a NCAA rule in a Fed game.