Bat hits catcher

[Gfoley4]

bases loaded, batter hits ground ball to second base and throws his bat in the process and hits the catcher's shinguards. F4 throws to F2, but he doesn't move up to cover home plate because of this, and R3 is safe. Is this a play on, or interference? OBR

[Rich Ives]

32 minutes ago, Gfoley4 said:

bases loaded, batter hits ground ball to second base and throws his bat in the process and hits the catcher's shinguards. F2 doesn't move up to cover home plate because of this, and R3 is safe. Is this a play on, or interference? OBR

Why?

[Mister B]

Was the ball thrown to F2? How many outs? 

No rule against throwing the bat. 

[Gfoley4]

12 minutes ago, Mister B said:

Was the ball thrown to F2? How many outs? 

No rule against throwing the bat. 

Yeah, ball thrown to F2, but he was "stunned" by the bat hitting him and wasn't prepared to catch it. He was standing up, but still a good 3 or 4 feet 1BLE. I ruled that it must have been intentional and warned the offending team. I thought that was right until I read "If a whole bat is thrown into fair or foul territory and interferes with a defensive player attempting to make a play, interference shall be called, whether intentional or not" So, I guess the question would be as to if this would be considered a "play"?

[Stk004]

38 minutes ago, Gfoley4 said:

Yeah, ball thrown to F2, but he was "stunned" by the bat hitting him and wasn't prepared to catch it. He was standing up, but still a good 3 or 4 feet 1BLE. I ruled that it must have been intentional and warned the offending team. I thought that was right until I read "If a whole bat is thrown into fair or foul territory and interferes with a defensive player attempting to make a play, interference shall be called, whether intentional or not" So, I guess the question would be as to if this would be considered a "play"?

I wasn't aware that this rule covered foul territory as well. 

A play is a legitimate attempt to retire a runner, and it sounds like the batter interfered with the catcher's ability to field a thrown ball in order to make a play. Although, if you judged that the catcher wasn't hindered and had time to move into position, but chose not to, then I don't believe the rule would apply and you would just play on. It'd be up to your judgement. A lot of it would depend on how quickly the play developed. 

[Rich Ives]

F2 was stunned by a bat hitting him in the shin guard?  Gimme a break.

[Stk004]

Just now, Rich Ives said:

F2 was stunned by a bat hitting him in the shin guard?  Gimme a break.

All shin guard, most likely nothing. But say it hits him in the elbow or neck or something and drops him into a heap, then what? 

[Rich Ives]

32 minutes ago, Stk004 said:

I wasn't aware that this rule covered foul territory as well. 

A play is a legitimate attempt to retire a runner, and it sounds like the batter interfered with the catcher's ability to field a thrown ball in order to make a play. Although, if you judged that the catcher wasn't hindered and had time to move into position, but chose not to, then I don't believe the rule would apply and you would just play on. It'd be up to your judgement. A lot of it would depend on how quickly the play developed. 

Not quite. (I added the bolding)

MLBUM:  A play or attempted play is interpreted as a legitimate effort by a defensive player who has possession of the ball to actually retire a runner.

Play the bounce

[Rich Ives]

3 minutes ago, Stk004 said:

All shin guard, most likely nothing. But say it hits him in the elbow or neck or something and drops him into a heap, then what? 

Play the bounce.

[Stk004]

1 minute ago, Rich Ives said:

Not quite. (I added the bolding)

MLBUM:  A play or attempted play is interpreted as a legitimate effort by a defensive player who has possession of the ball to actually retire a runner.

Play the bounce

So how do we interpret attempting to make a play? I concede that this whole thrown bat at F2 is nothing, but say you have a ground ball to F5 and a whole bat is thrown and hits him before he can field the ball, are you still expecting your umpires to "play the bounce?" 

[Rich Ives]

1 minute ago, Stk004 said:

So how do we interpret attempting to make a play? I concede that this whole thrown bat at F2 is nothing, but say you have a ground ball to F5 and a whole bat is thrown and hits him before he can field the ball, are you still expecting your umpires to "play the bounce?" 

NO - that's interfering with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball.  Which is also what the thrown bat bit is about - fielding a batted ball.

Here's the rest of the play definition I started above:  This may include an actual attempt to tag a
runner, a fielder running toward a base with the ball in an attempt to force or tag a runner, or
actually throwing to another defensive player in an attempt to retire a runner. (The fact that the
runner is not out is not relevant.) A fake or a feint to throw shall not be deemed a play or an
attempted play.

Which doesn't matter here because the bat throw is about fielding a batted ball. 

[JHSump]

Probably, there are new members here wondering...

Is the batter out for throwing his bat and hitting the catcher? 

 

 

[stkjock]

18 minutes ago, JHSump said:

Probably, there are new members here wondering...

Is the batter out for throwing his bat and hitting the catcher? 

 

 

in some local youth league rules, he could be............. 

[noumpere]

7 hours ago, Stk004 said:

So how do we interpret attempting to make a play? I concede that this whole thrown bat at F2 is nothing, but say you have a ground ball to F5 and a whole bat is thrown and hits him before he can field the ball, are you still expecting your umpires to "play the bounce?" 

That's the play the rule covers -- it does not cover the OP.  This is just a "play on", unless the league has some rule about "warn then eject" or similar.