Did he go? The answer is simple. “No he did not” OR “Yes he did.” Never was there such a simple answer for such a complicated situation.
For such a difficult call, we players don’t have much sympathy for the umpire in this situation. The call is usually followed by remarks like, “You’ve got to be kidding me” OR “That’s terrible” OR (some things I choose not to mention in this blog).
Judging if a batters swings or does not swing is more of an art than a science. It is probably one of the toughest calls an umpire has to make. There are equally tough calls like determining if a lefty balks when crossing the invisible 45 degree line or determining if a ball was trapped or caught in the air. The difference is that check swings occur much more frequently. When it comes to determining if a batter offers at a pitch, all sorts of ambiguity enters the equation.
How does an umpire make this call? I’ve heard: “It is a swing if the batter’s wrists break.” I’ve heard: “It is a swing if the bat crosses an invisible plane that extends across the front of home plate.” Do we really expect our umpires to see these things? There must be a better way.
I took it upon myself to settle this argument, and checked the official major league baseball rules out of my local public library. Surprisingly, there is no mention of a “check swing” anywhere in the official rules of baseball. Rule 2.0 states that “A STRIKE is a legal pitch when so called by the umpire, which is struck at by the batter and is missed.” That’s what our umpires are working with. Did the batter strike at the ball or did he not strike at the ball? It’s a judgment call. And, it’s an even tougher judgment call for umpires standing behind the mound.
So…the next time an umpire in your game remarks “No he did not” when you think he should have yelled “Yes he did,” maybe you should respond with “Tough one to see” or “Your guess is as good as mine.”
It should be based on intent — not whether wrists broke or whether bat crossed plate. If batter intends to swing but then pulls back the bat, he had intent to swing, and it should be a strike.
Alternatively, a very strong batter can swing at everything and just stop the bat before it crosses the plate.
I also feel that the base umpire calls check swings way too infrequently. A check-swing cant really be seen from behind, yet a plate umpire is behind the batter. A base ump CAN see a check swing, and can see intent. Yet, a base ump rarely will call it. I believe because the base ump feels this is somehow overruling the homeplate ump for missing a call, which isnt really the case.
My 2 cents….
I played ball up through high school and never saw a strike called on a batter when he STOPPED his swing unless the pitch was in the strike zone. I don’t know when this modern day “cheched swing” strike call came about, but it doesn’t make sense. The rules state that the umpire should determine whether the batter made an attempt to strike at the ball. A checked swing literally means that the batter did NOT make an attempt to strike at the ball, but rather attempted to NOT swing at the ball. What the casual observer doesn’t understand is that pitches come so fast that many times a batter starts to swing because the pitch looks as if it’s going to be to his liking. At the last split second, he decides that he doesn’t want to swing and ATTEMPTS TO STOP HIS SWING before the ball crosses the plate. This is a CHECKED SWING and is never an attempt to hit the ball. It is my humble opinion that pitchers have enough of an advantage that they don’t need this being called as often as it is.
Show me in the rule book where a left handed pitcher has 45 degrees. You won’t find it in there. Please stop presenting ficticious rules. Thank you.
Mark, while no mention is made of a 45 degree line for lefties in OBR, it IS clearly mentioned in both the NCAA and NFHS rules books. Perhaps you would like to read NCAA rule 9.1.a.6 or look in the NFHS Case Book at 6.2.4 Situation B. I believe you will find both reference a 45 degree line, and not as something that is “fictitious.” So, there, I did as you asked and showed you where it is in a rule book.
This is a great baseballthink article, incidentally.
It’s funny how many players that have argued with a “check swing” call and probably have NO IDEA what the rule actually is or isn’t. Good Post.
I totally disagree with Brett when he says that umpires should call more checked swings as strikes. On the other hand Rod is 100% correct. It does not make sense if a batter intentionally does not take an actual swing at the ball. If a major league batter moves the batt slightly, stope and then holds it still and it is 2-3 feet away from the ball which was not in the strike zone – that is definately NOT swinging “at” the ball. Umps call that a strike all the time and it is wrong!!!