Whenever a hitter breaks his bat the play should be nullified and the player get to swing again without that swing counting at all? I'd like to see a rule change on that because the ball is not really going where it normally would in all other situations - the bat breaking dampens the energy of the contact, so it either goes shorter or in a different direction. Also, I think it's unsafe for a fielder to have to try to duck large pieces of wood, so in a way there is a "foreign object" in play which requires that time be called, just like when a fan throws something out onto the field. What does anyone think?
2006-08-24 15:57:37 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Baseball
I do not agree that pitchers should have the right to intentionally break bats any more than they should be able to hit batters - that to me is unsportsmanlike. They should act professional at all times. But I also wonder whether certain players aren't being cheap in the bats that they buy.
2006-08-24 16:26:05 · update #1
See ... Andruw Jones of the Braves actually hit a broken bat homerun over 420 feet a few weeks ago. I think that you should still be able to see the clip of that somewhere over at MLB.com. As far as the rule being changed, I really doubt it. The way I see it, if a man is strong enough to break his bat and get a hit off of it, much less a homerun, then more power to him! The only thing that could get rid of the chunks of wood that fly around would be to replace the wood with metal bats, which would be a disaster (see the College World Series as an example). Balls would be flying out of the hard and being hit harder at players which would drive up the injury rate.
2006-08-24 16:03:29 · answer #1 · answered by Matt R 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i see your point but you're going to tell me that a ball hit out of the park wouldn't have been hit out of the park without the bat breaking? You can't control every aspect of the game and a broken bat is part of the game and therefore so is ducking out of the way of a bat. A batter doesn't intentionally break his bat when he hits, it just happens.
Bats are breaking more and more because players are using LIGHTER bats so they can get around on the ball faster helping them hit better.
Also, the majority of pitchers don't TRY to break a bat but they do intentionally pitch a batter inside in hopes of "tying up the batters hands" not with the intention of breaking a bat. Batters bats are breaking because they don't hit the ball with the "fat" part of the bat... the sweet spot. It happens when you don't get every pitch over the middle of the plate
2006-08-25 01:10:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That would be akin to turning the bases into home plate so that the ball isn't deflected, or calling the game due to a raindrop. Stuff like that happens, part of the game. Even if the batter is given another chance on a broken-bat, the danger is still going to exist for the fielders. Suppose your team wins a World Series on a broken bat homer, would you want that called back?
2006-08-24 23:33:03 · answer #3 · answered by Awesome Bill 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's just part of the game. It's very rare but Andruw Jones of the Braves recently hit a home run over the center field fence after breaking his bat!
2006-08-25 00:55:08 · answer #4 · answered by toughguy2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No b/c some pitchers break like 3 or 4 bats a game take mo rivera half of his outs come from ground ball outs on broken bats haha mo wuld suk if they changed the rule to ur way but i think u have a good arguement with the foriegn object thing maybe u shuld write a note to bud selig see wat he thinks. Good Luck with ur rule.
2006-08-24 23:07:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The hitter owns the bat, the hitter swung at the ball, the hitter is making alot more money to buy better bats, so in this case I say no. The bat breaks, the ball is in play, the batter screwed up and screwed himself...case closed......
2006-08-24 23:05:47 · answer #6 · answered by wldaz1 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Ahh No..why should the Pitcher be punished for te bat breakinga nd make another pitch. isnt there enough offense in the game, all the rules keep changing to make hitting easier...
2006-08-25 01:00:26 · answer #7 · answered by vincenzo445 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's the stupidest thing i have ever heard. If you change the rule anyway, whats it matter that its not safe, its still gonna happen. That would be a dumb rule, that's like saying "I think its not nice when a player thinks he has a home run, but its just short, so when a balls hit to the track it should be a homer" There is a reason why dumb rules dont exist.
2006-08-24 23:06:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
This is one of the worst questions I have ever read on here. Are you kidding? It is a sucess for the pitcher when He can make the hitter hit the ball on a vulerable part of the bat. KNow the game or shut up!
2006-08-24 23:14:51 · answer #9 · answered by ccccccc 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Players don't buy their own bats, get real. Most get them for free as promotional incentives for using a specific bat. Or the team buys them.
2006-08-24 23:04:21 · answer #10 · answered by a41xblj 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋