batters box when there are no lines

Question
We always play with not lines for the batter's box.  We had a case where the batter was clearly out of any "imaginary" batter's box.  I asked the umpire to have the batter move, but the umpire said that without lines the batter's box rules did not apply and that I should "read the book".

Answer
Hi Eric,

Gosh, I just hate it when they tell you to read the book and they haven't, makes them look bad.  The BB is always there lines or not, it is by definition the "area" the batter is restricted to when batting.  It happens to be 3'x7' 4' in front of a line drawn through the center of the plate.

In fact RS 7 tells us when calling a batter out of the box "when there are no batter's box lines good judgment should be used and the benefit of the doubt go to the batter."  It doesn't tell us to forget it.

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