In baseball, if a pitcher throws a wild pitch that hits the ground and then bounces up, can the batter hit it?
It depends on if Doug Eddings is the umpire.
Short answer? Yes, if the pitch bounces, the batter can swing. And if he hits a homer, it counts like any other.
The batter is free to swing, but it would be stupid, since any ball that touches the ground before reaching the plate is automatically a ball.
Along the same lines, would a pitched ball that hits the batter count as an HBP (hit-by-pitch) thus awarding the batter first base?
But if the batter is Juan Pierre or Jacque Jones (Cubs center fielder and right fielder), he’ll probably swing and miss and they’ll be called strikes. This happens with fairly regular frequency.
I assume you mean one that bounced first. And the answer is yes it would be a hit-by-pitch. Though as with any hit-by-pitch, the umpire could say teh batter made no attempt to get out of the way and deny him first base.
One other note. If the batter swings and misses at a ball that has already bounced, then the catcher cannot “catch” it and if it’s a third strike, it is treated like a dropped third strike.
It’s also going to be extremely hard to hit well – not that some hitters might wouldn’t try.
Maybe you were watching cricket and didn’t realise it?
Just to nitpick, since the question seems to be answered, a “wild pitch” is legally defined as occurring “. . .when a legally delivered ball touches the ground before reaching home plate and is not handled by the catcher, permitting a runner or runners to advance” (one of two possible conditions). By definition, if a batter hits the ball it is not a wild pitch. If it hits the ground and the catcher catches it, it is not a wild pitch.
I’ve seen this happen in fastpitch softball. Some coaches teach their girls to swing if they believe the catcher has no hope of fielding the ball.
Suppose with first base open the batter has two strikes and swings at such a pitch. He can run to first and will be safe if the defense doesn’t get the ball there in time. It’s not likely, since the catcher already has the ball, but it’s possible. In this case I believe any official scorer would call it a wild pitch, although the quoted rule contradicts this. Yet another place where the official rules of MLB are unclear or incomplete.
If the catcher catches the ball, the batter can’t run to first. It’s not a good idea to swing at a bouncing pitch even on the third strike because you have no way of knowing if the catcher can handle it or not. If he can, you’re excuse is going to make you look like a fool.
Ichiro Suzuki has hit a single in the MLB off of a bouncing ball.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/kurkjian_tim/1559908.html
I’ve also heard that he’s hit a homerun off of a bouncing ball in the Japanese league but I couldn’t find a link.
The catcher must catch the ball before it hits the ground - otherwise the batter can run to first on a third strike. From the official baseball rules :
6.05
A batter is out when –
. . .
(b) A third strike is legally caught by the catcher;
Rule 6.05(b) Comment: “Legally caught” means in the catcher’s glove before the ball touches the ground.
This isn’t a rare scenario - there was a controversy about just such a play in the 2005 American League Championship Series. A.J. Pierzynski swung at a third strike that catcher Josh Paul caught. Home plate umpire Doug Eddings called a strike but didn’t make an audible “out” call. Pierzynski took a step toward the dugout, then turned and ran to first. In the meantime, Paul rolled the ball back to the mound and walked back to his own dugout. Eddings ruled that the pitch had hit the ground before Paul caught it, so Pierzykski was safe at first. It was hard to tell from replays whether the pitch ever hit the ground - it clearly bounced on its way into the glove, but it wasn’t clear whether it bounced off the ground or off the webbing of the catcher’s mitt. In any case, the controversy was entirely about whether the ball had hit the ground before Paul caught it - not over whether Paul had dropped the ball after he caught it.
BTW, I agree that it’s rarely a good idea for a batter to swing at a bouncing pitch, but we’re discussing what’s possible under the rules, not what constitutes good strategy.
Suppose a pitcher lost the handle and a ball barely made it to the plate. Could a batter swing at a stationary ball near the plate? It would be like a directed bunt. Would that be legal by rule?
If he can make contact with the ball without leaving the batter’s box, yes this would be legal, and he could run to first base if he hit it fair. He could even throw his bat at the ball if it were lying out of reach and if contact was made it would be a batted ball.
What would be more interesting would be if the ball were lying on the ground in front of the plate and catcher then stepped up to get it, could the batter swing, hit the catcher and be awarded first base on catcher’s interference.
Were I umpiring that, I’d say ‘no’ if there was a noticeable delay and the batter only swung after it was clear the ball had stopped and the catcher had gotten up to retrieve it.
== former Little League umpire.
Moved to the Game Room, a forum that didn’t exist when this thread was started in 2006.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Here are some examples, including Vlad Guerrero hitting a bloop single and Corey Dickerson whacking a double, off bounced pitches.
It amazes me that Guerrero never struck out 100 times in a season, and only had 985 K’s over his 16 year career.
What’s amazing is that the hit-off-the-bounce was maybe not the craziest part of the Guerrero play.
I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like the first baseman just kind of wandered away to who knows where in the middle of the play, Guerrero noticed (I assume) and headed halfway to second. The outfielder saw Guerrero in no-mans land, and fired to first, which would have easily picked off Guerrero had the first baseman actually been there. But he wasn’t, so the ball rolled to the wall, allowing a runner who started of first to score, and Guerrero to second.