In a hypothetical fast pitch softball game, suppose Joan has 2 strikes against her and has been having a horrible time with her bat. If she sees the next pitch coming that is clearly going to sail over the catcher’s head, can she swing and immediately break for 1st? Does she have to wait for the ball to cross the plate?
I’m using softball as an example because that’s where I see the most pitches get thrown over batters heads. I assume that baseball rules would be similar but have no way to back that up.
Major League Baseball rules state that a batter becomes a runner when “a called third strike is not caught”. My guess here is that a pitch can not be “not caught”, and can not be a strike, until it passes home plate. Theoretically, if he had the time, a batter could indeed swing twice on the same pitch and if he hit the ball the second time, that would be OK.
So if the batter left for first before the pitch had crossed home, my take would be that he would be called out, if for no other reason than interfering with the play of the catcher and /or not being in the batter’s box when the pitch reached home plate.
I think that’s right – also, I believe the MLB rule says (implies? have to run so I can’t look it up) that the batter must make a legit strike at the ball. Swinging at something that’s obviously a wild pitch probably isn’t legal unless there’s at least some chance you can get to it.
I’ve never heard of any kind of “hitter interference” although it very well could exist. The rules say that if a player is hit by a part of his body while it’s in the strike zone, it’s a strike. If he isn’t hit, then it’s still a strike obviously. But are you really interfering if the ball is WAY out of the strike zone?
Suppose that John Kruk had had 2 strikes on him when this happened. Could he have swung and started running? There would be no interference because he’s left handed.
Cliffy, I’ve never heard of having to make a legitimate swing. A batter is well within his rights (AFAIK) to swing at a pitch that is part of an intentional walk even though he (probably) has no chance of hitting it.
I would say that the batter becomes a runner when the actual strike is called by the umpire AND the pitch hits the ground which ever is later. So the batter can leave on a pitch in the dirt when the umpire says “Strike!” but on an eephus pitch over everyone’s head or the Johnson/Kruk slider where the strike is called (assuming the batter swings) before it hits the ground, the batter cannot leave until it is “not caught” i.e. touches the ground or backstop.
There is such a thing as a batter’s interference. In fact, one of the most controversial plays in the history of the World Series was one in which a possible offensive interference was not called. See Ed Armbrister’s bunt in 1975.
From the MLB rulebook’s “Definition of terms” section:
“INTERFERENCE (a) Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. If the umpire declares the batter, batter-runner, or a runner out for interference, all other runners shall return to the last base that was in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless otherwise provided by these rules.”
As for a lefthanded batter, he of course would not interfere with the catcher’s play, and that’s why I wrote “and/or”. He could be called out for not being in the batter’s box at the time the ball is not caught.
I have often wondered, after excessively wild pitches with 2 strikes, if a batter could swing as the ball rolls towards the backstop (well after it has passed the plate) and then run to first base.
The phrase “at the time the ball is not caught” strikes me as funny. I know what you mean but ISTM that it would include the span of time from when the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand until it hits the ground.
I doubt it. A wild pitch that already has passed home plate and not been swung on would most certainly be immediately considered as a Ball by the umpire.