Strike Out Question

Question
when the ball is near the ground and the baseball player check swings at it isnt a ball or a strike because my friend Hunter did this and they said he check swang at it and it was low as heck and they called it a Strike three call and there were 2 outs 2 strikes 3 balls on him and the ball hit the ground then bounce in the catchers mit shouldnt have my friend be award 1st base automatically when he check swang it was low enough for a Ball 4 and i arugued about it and  the umpire said the ball was in the strike zone so i called a review play on it. Was he right or was he wrong about the call on the swing because i think it should have been a ball 4 right  

Answer
Hi Cody,

The check swing is so very difficult to call for the home umpire.  Most players will ask the infield umpire to make the call on check swings.  If your league has only one (1) umpire behind home plate, then you have no choice but to accept that call.

I had a player who had a very bad habit of swinging his bat away with one hand after each ball that he did not want to hit was pitched.  To mee, it looked so much like this player was swinging at the ball but he always said he was just doing a check swing.  I warned him not to do this but he continued. Sure enough, during an important game, this player did his 'check swing' move and the umpire called a strike and he was out.  We lost the game.

The important point is that check swings are very tricky and if the ball bounced on the ground, why was the player doing a check swing?  If the ball touches the ground BEFORE it crosses the plate, it is called as a ball UNLESS the player tries to swing at it.  If the umpire is unsure of a check swing...he'll call it a swing.  That's the way it is.

SO...when Hunter did his check swing...the umpire made a decision that he tried to hit the ball and missed.  It may have been an umpire mistake but that cannot be changed.  One of the first rules in baseball is that the umpire is always right (even if he is not).  To argue with the umpire on a call is very difficult and could get you into trouble.  Let the coach make those decisions.

I guess the important lesson is to watch those important pitches carefully and learn a better technique in the check swing.  Arguing with the umpire can only get you kicked out of the game.  Few games are won or lost because of the umpire.  

Doing a check swing on a bounced ball was wrong.  You can tell your friend Hunter that...unless he already knows.

Bye for now,

Coach John