fake bunt swing

[bigblue89]

I did my first LL game of the season yesterday (9-11 year olds) and i had a batter show bunt pull it back and then swing at the pitch (he missed for a strike). Both coaches told me that it is an illegal play in LL now due to safety but neither coach could tell me what the ruling on the field is if a player does it. Any body know where i could find the rule or know what the ruling on the field should be . I also want to point out that i loved that both coaches knew it was an illegal play but couldnt go any farther than that to help me!

[Rich Ives]

I did my first LL game of the season yesterday (9-11 year olds) and i had a batter show bunt pull it back and then swing at the pitch (he missed for a strike). Both coaches told me that it is an illegal play in LL now due to safety but neither coach could tell me what the ruling on the field is if a player does it. Any body know where i could find the rule or know what the ruling on the field should be . I also want to point out that i loved that both coaches knew it was an illegal play but couldnt go any farther than that to help me!

There is no rule against it.

It is impossible to find something that isn't there so you will not be able to find it in the book.

[bigblue89]

Ok that make sense. I never heard of that being a rule before but i figured if both of the coaches said it was illegal it must just be something ive just never seen.

[ukce1861]

I believe this is illegal in USSSA, but I'm not sure on that. I have had coaches argue this is illegal in LL games, but it is not. I've been told this is a carry-over from travel, most likely USSSA.

[sdix00]

Once upon a time, this was in our ground rules.

It was removed when we reduced our ground rules from four pages to half a page.

Possible it is an old legacy ground rule?

[calablue]

Don't know about LL, but Dixie Baseball definitely has a rule against this. It is in their conduct and sportsmanship section. It is a safety thing. There is no penalty so to speak, it is declared a no pitch, a warning is issued to the offending team and it's manager, and if it occurs again the manager is removed for the remainder of the game.

[bigblue89]

ive been trying to find it somewhere but i cant. We have an association meeting tonight and the UIC for the league should be there so i can get a definitive answer. Thanks every one

[Rich Ives]

ive been trying to find it somewhere but i cant. We have an association meeting tonight and the UIC for the league should be there so i can get a definitive answer. Thanks every one

One more time: You can't find it because it's not there. There's no LL rule against it. Send the question to region and get an official response if you wish. Or ask on the LL Facebook discussion page. It's legal.

[jjb]

U-Trip uses the rule for machine pitch leagues.

[mstaylor]

It is not illegal in LL, it is a myth that just won't die. I have been on the internet boards since about 1996 and people have been arguing that it is a rule, should be a rule or is added as a local rule. Think about slash hitting in softball, it isn't really any different.

[yawetag]

ive been trying to find it somewhere but i cant. We have an association meeting tonight and the UIC for the league should be there so i can get a definitive answer. Thanks every one

Instead of finding a rule to show they're wrong, have them find a rule to show they're right.

If it's not illegal by the rule book, then it's not illegal.

[mstaylor]

ive been trying to find it somewhere but i cant. We have an association meeting tonight and the UIC for the league should be there so i can get a definitive answer. Thanks every one

Instead of finding a rule to show they're wrong, have them find a rule to show they're right.

If it's not illegal by the rule book, then it's not illegal.

+1

[SnareDrum]

U-Trip uses the rule for machine pitch leagues.

True! That's the only section of USSSA where it's illegal, but in all Player Pitch leagues, there's no rule on it at all. I've seen batter's try it at various levels, but I've never heard a chirp regarding legality.

[Dragon29]

. . . it is a myth that just won't die.

I think one of the reasons for this is that it's a rule that is still in use by a lot of local Little Leagues.

In the LL I used to be UIC for, that's been a rule on all of their 60' fields since before I can remember, and continues to this day. The penalty is an Out. There are 15 Leagues in our District and at least 6 of them that I am certain of use that rule as well.

And, yes - it's done for safety reason; at least, that's how it was explained to me. When I took over as UIC, I asked to see the paperwork from Williamsport allowing us to change & enforce the rule as we were, but I never got it. Since I (& my trained umpires) were primarily responsible for the Junior division and post-season, I didn't sweat it.

And - no - we did not call it in post-season at any level.

[bigblue89]

i was told that it is indeed a league rule that they have. The result is an out weather its fair or foul tipped or missed its an automatic out. Thank you everyone