A batter swings at a pitch and the home plate umpire asks the 1st or 3rd base umpire to make a determination whether the pitch should be called a strike or a ball. what does the base umpire look for in determining what call to make.
by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 3
-
I'm updating my answer. Thanks tibear. I found this: "A check-swing is when an umpire rules that a batter did not strike at a pitch even though the batter may have partially swung. There is no official definition in the rules of baseball that define a check-swing. Rather, it is entirely the decision of the umpire of whether or not a pitch was swung at. Generally, factors such as whether the bat passes the front of the plate or the batter pulls his wrists back are considered in making this decision" Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/11902/cgi-bin/search.cgi?search_name=check%20swing%0A
-
There is no "imaginary line" and the plate umpire will never ask a base umpire if the plate umpire called a strike. Basically ALL umpires ask themselves, "Was the batter attempting to hit the ball?". If so it is a strike. It doesn't matter where the bat goes, whether the batter "breaks" his wrists or any other criteria. Simply did the batter attempt to hit the ball.
-
Actually you're wrong tibear. The plate umpire often asks either the first base umpire or the third base umpire depending if the batter is either left or right handed. It's called a "check swing". Sometimes on questionable calls the umpire will make the call himself. Other times he'll call time and then IF THE BATTER IS RIGHT HANDED THE UMPIRE WILL USE HIS LEFT HAND HAND AND SAY "DID HE GO"? IF HE DID THE FIRST BASE UMPIRE WILL SIGNAL STRIKE. IF NOT HE WILL SIGNAL A NO SWING WHICH IS JUST A SAFE CALL. Vice versa for a left handed batter. The way good umpires do it is be measuring where the bat was on the line. If it went past it's a strike. If not it's a ball or a strike, depending if it was in the zone. Woody McCutcheon - an umpire
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC