Switch-hitting in Baseball

Is a batter allowed to switch-hit during an at bat, that is if a batter takes a pitch as a lefty, can he then move to the right side?

I think that it’s fine. The other team can switch pitchers in the middle of your AB, why couldn’t you switch sides. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a cite for this.

I felt bad about no cite. Here’s a relevant page from the rulebook at www.mlb.com. I couldn’t find any evidence that it is not allowed.

http://www.eteamz.com/baseball/rules/obr/library/rule.cfm/Switch%20Box/

I umpire LL baseball and a batter cannot change sides of the plate after the first pitch unless there is a pitcher change in the middle of the at bat. And per the rules, the pitcher or batter can only be changes due to injury. Changing players in the middle of an at bat to gain an advantage is not allowed. Switch hitters generally bat from the most advantagous side anyway so changing sides would not help anyway. Remember, baseball is a gentlemens game, deceipt and trickery are generally not allowed.

There used to be no rule about an ambidextrous pitcher switching throwing hands during an at-bat, but then Greg Harris (who was with the Red Sox at the time) tried it - and now they have just such a rule.

And as far as the OP itself goes - definitely shouldn’t be allowed, just for the reason mentioned. If righthanded pitcher A gets a 2-0 count to a hitter and his manager takes him out of the game and brings in a lefty, then the hitter should be able to switch to the other side to face the new guy.

Perhaps it’s not allowed, but Wolfman’s cite does not give any authority. It states Rule 606(b), but that rule states:

So if it is not allowed, what is the rule disallowing it?

Upon afterthought, that rule, by negative implication, actually allows a batter to switch sides during one at bat, so long as he doesn’t do it while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch. If he weren’t allowed to do so, why add the clause “while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch”?

I interpret the rule this way. Batter A comes up against lefty and settles in to the right handed hitters box.

A looks at Lefty’s first pitch and it’s a nasty screwball that breaks away from him.

He says to himself, “Hmm, I think I will need to bat lefty against him so I can handle his pitches.” So he calls time, goes back to the dugout, gets a new helmet, so the earflap is on the correct side and then digs in the left-handed batter’s box.

The rule is ambiguous. To me it means that the situation described by Bob T is allowed since the batter did not change sides while the pitcher was in the ready position ready to pitch the next pitch. However, the pitcher was in the ready position ready to pitch to the batter, but not necessarily the next pitch. Under Bob’s interpretation, the batter cannot change sides even before the first pitch if the pitcher was ready to pitch.

The way it is worded supports my interpretation. All the rule says is that the pitcher must be in the ready position ready to pitch. If the batter calls time and changes sides, the pitcher was not in the ready position. He was when the batter first stepped up, but was not when he changed sides.

Looking into this further, I read David Nemec’s “The Rules of Baseball” which has anecdotes about why certain rules were adopted.

The present rules on switch hitters changing sides was adopted prior to the 1907 season. Before 1907, batters could change sides even while the pitch was on its way.

The rule is interpreted to mean, according to Nemec, that the batter cannot switch sides unless he calls time and the umpire grants it.

Just FYI, in cricket may change batting stance from left to right handed or vice versa, but he must inform the umpire of his intention to do so.

Add ‘a player’ and ‘their’ and rearrange those words into a sentence :rolleyes:

Harris never tried such a thing, and never switch pitched while he played for the Red Sox. It was well known he was capable of it, but the Sox would not allow him to do so. Nonetheless, in anticipation that he might, the AL President, Bobby Brown, laid down some rules, including the no-switches-in-an-at-bat rule. (Also, he had to declare what side he’s pitch from for each batter, and he wasn’t allowed warmup pitches for each arm.)

Anyway, he eventually did do it in one game when he pitched for Montreal in 1995. However, he did NOT switch arms during an at bat. He used the same arm for each hitter, according to the platoon advantage, against four Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 28, 1995:

Reggie Sanders ® - Pitched righthanded, out 6-3
Hal Morris (L) - Pitched lefthanded, walked on four pitches
Eddie Taubensee (L) - Pitched lefthanded, out 2-3, Morris to 2nd
Bret Boone ® - Pitched righthanded, out 1-3

Thanks, RickJay, that makes sense. Man played for a lot of teams, so I forgot it was Montreal and not Boston when this occurred - and of course, that the rule was laid down in anticipation of the actual event. Thanks for the clarification.