Baseball rules

[Sem]

So let's make it a triple play again

Stay with the scenario of a man on 1st again 2 out and the batter has a 3-2 count. Batter swings at the next pitch and tips it back to the catcher. It hits off his chest protector and then he secures it in his mitt before it ever hits the ground. Is the batter out?

Yes, strike three.

[GIANTS1]

not out in above. catcher has to catch it cleanly. play where the batter stepped out i would probably not call balk because batter stepped out of box. play where the ball hits in front of plate still would have to complete the play either tagging batter or throw to first.

[GIANTS1]

On my way out the door now. I have to do 2 American legion baseball games. Love these ?

[Sem]

MLB question for you @LennG 
I was watching the Yankees and Blue Jays Friday night, and there was a play late in the game which I wonder if you could comment on. Yanks up, Volpe at bat, a runner, on first. The pitcher "rocks and deals" (LOL, channeling Lindsey Nelson there), but his spike catches on the rubber and he falls down, As he falls he (either intentionally or unintentionally) releases his grip on the ball and it rolls toward the plate a couple feet. Umpire understandably calls a ball.  My question is what if he had hung on to the ball as he fell. Would that have been a balk, even though his slip was accidental and there was no intent to deceive the runner?

[LennG]

MLB question for you @LennG 
I was watching the Yankees and Blue Jays Friday night, and there was a play late in the game which I wonder if you could comment on. Yanks up, Volpe at bat, a runner, on first. The pitcher "rocks and deals" (LOL, channeling Lindsey Nelson there), but his spike catches on the rubber and he falls down, As he falls he (either intentionally or unintentionally) releases his grip on the ball and it rolls toward the plate a couple feet. Umpire understandably calls a ball.  My question is what if he had hung on to the ball as he fell. Would that have been a balk, even though his slip was accidental and there was no intent to deceive the runner?

Steve

Just to answer this as I have my family over today.
With no one on and the pitcher for whatever reason tries to pitch and the ball slips out of his hand if it crosses the foul line into dead area it is a ball. If it doesn't it is no pitch

With anyone on base if it crosses the foul line it is still a ball but if it doesn't then it is a balk no matter the reason.

[GIANTS1]

Lenn the question about the pitcher coming set an stopping his motion with runners on base because batter stepped out. I never saw your answer on that one.

[LennG]

I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply. My computer is on the frizz and I've tried on my phone twice and both times it got erased before I posted it , so let me try now on my wife's laptop.


Question 1

WShen the pitcher stops his delivery because the batter stepped out of the box without time being called, there is no balk. The rule book specifically states this. The pitcher will not be at fault if the batter does something illegal to cause him to balk. I can't tell you how many arguments I have had about this over the years. In fact, I used to carry a copy of the rule with me and show it to coaches when there came out to argue why no balk is to be called. To put it simply it is a 'do-over', one of the very few times in baseball you can have a 'do-over'.I find it hard to work on this laptop or else I would post the section in the rule book where this rule is located. Maybe later.

Question 2

If a batter swings and misses on a 3rd strike, with 2 out,  and the ball somehow hits the ground, the catcher must make a play on him regardless if the catcher catches it cleanly after hitting the ground. He must make a play on that batter unless the batter abandons the plate and walks back to the dugout.

Question 3

If a batter swings and foul tips the ball with 2 strikes on him, the ball has to go directly to or off the catcher's mitt first. If it hits his chest protector, mask, shin guard, or whatever first it is a foul ball.
Again, it has to directly hit his itt first. If it hits his mitt, bounds up in the air and then is caught, the batter is still out. This is a very hard call for the plate umpire and is usually called by a base umpire.

[Sem]

Thanks Len, I like these rules questions. You're showing me that, despite watching baseball for over 50 years, there's so little I really know. 

[GIANTS1]

thanks Lenn thats the way i would have called that. a reset so to speak.

[LennG]

Let's try another.

Team A is hitting. The #4 batter in the line-up bats in the 3rd position, and is not caught by Team B. He gets a single. According to the rules, the batting order moves along with the #5 batter now up.

Can the defense appeal now?
If the defense appeals and it is upheld, who is the batter now?
Is anyone out?
If Team B realizes that the wrong batter is up and appeals as soon as the #4 batter gets up, what is the ruling?

Let's expand on this. The team bats around and now, the batting out of order was NOT caught and the batting order moves along. Now this #3 position in the order is up again, who bats there, the #3 batter who missed his turn, or does the lineup remain the same with the #4 batter continuing the order the way it was before?

[GIANTS1]

wow im gonna just wait for your answer on this one.

[LennG]

No one else posted, so I'll give it another day and then the answers.

[Sem]

Just popping on to say that I won't be around much for the remainder of this month. We'll have company visiting now, and other friends coming soon. Our July is pretty booked, and so my online time is very limited.

edit: that last question has left my head spinning. I look forward to finding out the answer.....eventually.

[LennG]

 It has taken me a while to be able to get back on my computer. I am not very good at posting things from my phone.

Anyway, let me try and answer some of the questions from my last post.

Batting out of order is complicated, until you understand it and then it is very easy.

In my example, #4 batter batted out of order in the 3 slot, making batter #3 miss his turn at bat. The rule states that if this infraction is caught BEFORE (and that is the key word) batter #4 completes his turn at bat, he is simply re placed with the correct batter, which in this case would be batter #3 and there is NO PENALTY. ( Batter #3 would assume any count that batter #4 had).
So, if a defensive team realizes someone is batting out of order, it is best for them to wait until he finishes his turn at bat. Once he completes his turn at bat, and the defensive team appeals to the umpire, batter #4, the illegal batter is called out, no matter what he did at bat and then the legal batter shall hit. So, again, if the defensive team knows someone is batting out of order, it is always best to wait till he completes his turn at bat as they will always get an out. Understand this so far. Now, say batter #4, who batted out of turn, hits into a double play, the defensive team may not say anything because if they did, the batter would simply be out and no double play. Whatever the illegal batter did would be nullified, as he would simply be called out. That is why it is always best to wait and see how everything plays out before appealing. If the defense lets the play stand then the batting order continues with batter #5 and batter #3 would miss his turn at bat.
Another example, say batter #4 is their best hitter and he bats out of turn. If he makes out, the defense may elect to leave it at that because if they appeal, he is already out and on appeal, batter #3 would bat as he was the correct batter and then batter #4 would follow giving him another chance to bat. Batting out of order rarely occurs in MLB, but in sandlot it happens quite often as teams try to get other players into games so things like this happen all the time and smart managers know the strategies to help their team.
In the example I gave, the defensive team has until a Pitch is thrown to make that appeal. Once a pitch is thrown, then the batting order is what it is at that point. If the offensive team bats around and batter #3 position comes up, in the lineup he is supposed to bat, and he would bat then, even if he missed his turn before.

So in my questions

Can the defense appeal now?  YES
If the defense appeals and it is upheld, who is the batter now? Batter #3 who should have batted
Is anyone out? Batter #4
If Team B realizes that the wrong batter is up and appeals as soon as the #4 batter gets up, what is the ruling? The correct batter takes his place which would be batter #3. After batter #3 completes his turn, then batter #4 would bat again, this time in his correct position.

[Sem]

My schedule unexpectedly cleared up so I'm back for now.

That's interesting @LennG . A follow-up question if I may. As we all know major league baseball is a sport with never ending statistics. Per your explanation, in MLB if by chance a visiting team's batter did bat out of order, and the opposing team appeals, the batter is called out. So in this case how is the out recorded, a strikeout or a putout? If a putout, who get credited with the out? My question probably dives deep into the minutia of the rule book, but if they've made a rule for such a scenario then you can bet your bottom dollar they've followed it to its natural conclusion and accounted for all 27 outs, (in a 9 inning game for example).