Batters Box / On HomePlate

[mbrown2097]

I'm fairly confident that this falls in the Myths category but wanted to confirm.  Caught some flak on this but I think I got it right.  Batter's heel is on the batter's box line and toe is on home plate at the time he hits the ball.  Parents complain that he stepped on home plate, that's an automatic out on a batted ball.  I went with fair ball, play on.  OBR..

[stkjock]

just reading about this the other day, took this from one of the threads - bolding added by me

 

Quote

From the Wendelstedt Umpire School Rules & Interpretations Manual, 7.4.6 - Illegally Batted Ball, pg 122:

 

His bat makes contact with a pitched ball with one or both of his feet on the ground entirely outside of the batter's box [6.06(a)] 274, 275.

 

You should be especially mindful of the batter's feet in when a batter is attempting to bunt at a pitch, on a pitch out, or an intentional walk.

 

There is no penalty for a batter stepping on home plate while contacting a pitch. Since home plate is only 6" from the lines of the batter's box, it is impossible for a batter to setp on home plate and still not be out of the batter's box.

 

Legal: Both feet on, or within the lines of the box. May occur when batter tries to squeeze bunt on outside pitch.

 

Illegal:

 

One foot entirely outisde the line of the box. May occur on a swing or a bunt for a base hit.

 

One foot entirely outside the lines of the box. May occur on a drag bunt.

 

One foot entirely outside the lines of the box. May occur on a sacrifice bunt.

 

[ALStripes17]

I'm fairly confident that this falls in the Myths category but wanted to confirm.  Caught some flak on this but I think I got it right.  Batter's heel is on the batter's box line and toe is on home plate at the time he hits the ball.  Parents complain that he stepped on home plate, that's an automatic out on a batted ball.  I went with fair ball, play on.  OBR..

Not an out in OBR.

Yes, it's an out in FED as FED specifically states 'or steps on home plate'

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[mbrown2097]

Ahh, I'm not versed in FED so unaware of that.  I suppose that I'll have to take it out of the Myth category and chalk it up to multiple rule sets.

[maven]

By rule, yes, this would be an illegally batted ball in FED.

The problem with this call is that, if we're doing our job and tracking the pitch, 99.9% of the time we won't know where the batter's feet are at the moment he hits the ball. We CERTAINLY will not know that his toe was touching the plate. And neither will the BU, who is too far to see it clearly.

I've asked pro guys about this call. Their advice is always: "I had him legal, skip." You can't call what you don't see.

The 0.1% case is something like a LH batter drag bunting and he's halfway to the mound before the breaking pitch arrives. I can get that one.

[basejester]

 

There is no penalty for a batter stepping on home plate while contacting a pitch. Since home plate is only 6" from the lines of the batter's box, it is impossible for a batter to setp on home plate and still not be out of the batter's box.

 

This makes no sense to me.  Perhaps it should read "possible" instead of "impossible".

 

[maven]

1 minute ago, basejester said:

 

There is no penalty for a batter stepping on home plate while contacting a pitch. Since home plate is only 6" from the lines of the batter's box, it is impossible for a batter to setp on home plate and still not be out of the batter's box.

 

This makes no sense to me.  Perhaps it should read "possible" instead of "impossible".

 

The author is envisioning a situation like the OP, where the batter's toes are on the plate. If we read "step on home plate" = "have one's toes on home plate," then the statement is correct for players over the age of 9.

The author doesn't work 7U.

[basejester]

40 minutes ago, maven said:

The author is envisioning a situation like the OP, where the batter's toes are on the plate. If we read "step on home plate" = "have one's toes on home plate," then the statement is correct for players over the age of 9.

It is possible to step on home plate and still be in the batter's box.  That's obviously the intent of the statement.  An adult's foot is about, well, a foot.  6 inches is less than a foot.  So it is possible to step on the plate and still have part of the foot in the box and therefore legally bat the ball.

However, it is also possible to step on home plate and be out of the batter's box.  If the batter puts his heel on the plate and his toes off the far edge, he is out of the box.  So the statement attributed to Wendelstedt is obviously incorrect, either in its original form or its transcription here.

Stepping on the plate doesn't guarantee the batter is in the box.  The statement says nothing about toes.  It's just wrong.

The first image is incorrect.  The second is correct.

[FleasOf1000Camels]

I work tournaments nearly every weekend, and typically bounce back and forth from OBR to FED.  The batters-foot-on-home-plate is just one of DOZENS of differences between the codes. 

At time bat makes contact with ball (fair OR foul):

Either foot on ground completely outside batter's box (remember chalk is INSIDE)...Batter OUT, ball dead, runners return...ALL CODES.

One foot touching both batters box chalk AND plate: FED same as above.  OBR play on.

FED 7-3-2 (batter shall not)..."Hit the ball while either foot or knee is touching the ground completely outside the lines of the batters box or touching home plate".  Penalty: the ball is immediately dead and the batter is out.