I saw this called half a dozen times over the weekend.... Not slappers, all bunts. Couple were righties. It really had me wondering what the purpose of it was. What "problem" is being solved, what advantage there is to a bunter.
The lines were completely gone in one game and that dude just kept calling it. It was awful.
In another game I thought a rather well known female coach was going to chew the face off of some twerp kid of an umpire who honestly had no business calling a game like that.
This is a really dumb rule. It screws up games. It has all the fans trying to watch wondering what the call is. Get rid of this thing NOW. Our sport is getting more coverage than ever but these are little wtf? type moments that turn spectators off and there is NO reason for it.
It seems to me like it's also much, much easier for an umpire to call "completely out of the box" than "a centimeter of her baby toe was possibly out of the box if the lines were still there." You can make that first call even if the lines are gone (in some cases). In the latter situation, it can be difficult to tell even when the lines are pristine.
It's a bad rule that solves a nonexistent problem by adding a layer of difficulty to an already difficult job.
Edit: This part of the explanation is especially stupid "Also, ensures slappers do not gain an unfair advantage that other batters do not have by being allowed to contact the ball while outside of the batter’s box."
There was previously no rule that said any other hitter couldn't have a foot partially out of the box. A right-handed hitter could, on her stride, have a toe over the line.
I really wonder if this rule is designed entirely to discourage slapping. I don't think it will do that, but I wonder if there's some kind of anti-slapper agenda at work here.
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