![]() ![]() The most glamorous element of baseball may be (successfully) swinging, but having the discipline not to swing at bad pitches is a key part of the game in its own right. So how then do major league umpires think about check swings? According to a New York Times piece by David Waldstein, Joe West, along with many of his colleagues, defines a check swing as coming down to whether a “batter offer at the pitch, or held the bat up.” In other words, West affirms what I was taught in my own umpire training: what matters is not the size of the swing, but the intent of the swinger. ![]() Green gets Devers to go around for a BIG out /LCAFq7kURo- Talkin' Yanks JYankees: Was Rafael Devers’ check swing called right? It does, however, define “swings” as “an attempt to strike at the ball.” MLB’s rule book, however, does not contain a definition of check swings. Secondly, in NCAA baseball, check swings are in fact defined as “the barrel head of the bat cross the front edge of home plate or the batter’s front hip.” This language is used by commentators, fans and players alike. And there’s good reason why so many hold this belief.įor one, if a batter’s swing drags out long enough, there’s a good chance they did intend to chase the pitch. Outside of those umpiring classes, however, I’ve regularly heard the “broken wrists” standard applied. the batter “breaking (extending) their wrists”) but whether the batter intended to swing at the pitch. Our instructor explicitly taught us that whether a swing is “checked” or not does not come down to a physical standard (i.e. ![]() While much of that time now feels like a distant memory, one of the old lessons still rings crystal clear. But Devers’ exasperation reminded me of a gripe I’ve long held with other baseball fans.Īs a teenager, I umpired little league games in Toronto, going through Ontario’s first two levels of umpire training. His manager Alex Cora had to take him off the field to ensure he didn’t get ejected for arguing.Īs a Yankees fan, it’s hard for me to defend one of Boston’s rising stars. Boston’s Rafael Devers was not happy when he was called out on strikes in a July 18 game between the Yankees and Red Sox. ![]()
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