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bmoser
1633 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2009 : 10:51:42
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I feel that every youth baseball organization should have a no fake bunt rule in place for its younger participants. Squaring to bunt for the purpose of drawing the infielders closer to the batter, then pulling the bat back and taking a full swing is dangerous.
Do you all agree this is too dangerous to allow? If so, at what age is it okay? High School, but not before? Some other age?
Have you Coaches have 10U players do this before? have you ever seen an injury due to this strategy?
I know Dixie Youth has a no fake bunt rule on P82 of their rule book, but do other orgs have a rule in place? NWBA? I dont think USSSA does, but I could be wrong. Where is Greg Lomax when you need him most? What about Triple Crown? Grand Slam? USTBA?
Any feedback and/or help would be greatly appreciated. |
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ronicard
117 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 11:05:47
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I don't think USSSA does. If it does, I have never seen it called and I seem to recall seeing some slashes. I've also seen them in Triple Crown tournaments.
USTBA is probably too new to have established a specific rule about this subject, but I'm just guessing on that. I don't know for sure.
I've heard many people worry about it, and I've seen the play run probably 15 - 20 times over the years and have never seen a kid hurt by it. I'm not really for it or against it. It seems to fail more often than it works. |
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Titan1
210 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 11:05:56
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| Usssa and ustba allow a fake bunt/full swing. happened to us at the ustba in april and we did it this weekend with a take sign on at usssa, asked both umpires about it. Third baseman was charging in until about 15 ft from the plate. Called my batter over told him to square and pull it back and take a hard step but not to swing. When he got back in the batters box other coach yelled he's bunting and I hollered at him to drive the ball down third.Anyway long story short. Third baseman did not charge as aggressively again. |
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Rocky
290 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 11:24:46
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| I think it should be banned in every league before HS. The fields are too short. I haven't seen anyone injured by it, but if you have to resort to fake bunt swing to win a game it's pretty sad and dangerous. |
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BBall123
395 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 14:35:02
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| Its too dangerous , Its not worth risking hurting a kid to win at 10 yr old baseball |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 15:04:21
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| Titan1, at what age are you using the fake bunt? Do you feel age is an issue? |
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Alter-Ego
802 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 16:37:40
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I think at 13U, where you move to 80' bases and the infield opens up some, it is used to draw the corners in, to allow a drive over their heads.
While I don't really like most of the intentions with it's use in the lower age groups (11U and below) it has to be an option to keep the corners from sprinting in on a batter squaring to bunt. If you are going to say "No Fake bunts" you need to draw an infield line and say "Cannot charge inside the line" for the infielders. I think that would be stupid, so leave it like it is and teach your corners how to field a bunt get the batter out. |
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sirlurker
187 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 20:07:17
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Another fake bunt situation...
I didn't see the play but maybe someone can offer a thought...12U Silver Championship game at Triple Crown Back to Brawl...final inning and Stars are down by 1 run...first two batters ground out..next batter gets HBP and goes to first...next batter is up and fake bunts but pulls back while runner on first steals...Ump calls Batter interference - batter out - game over. Haven't seen that call before... |
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k_coach
53 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 21:41:10
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| I know a kid in our area got hurt on this play two years ago. Whether there is a rule or not, its just not a good idea with the younger kids. Not sure what age this should be taught though (HS maybe). |
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tater77bug
133 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2009 : 09:19:41
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EGO you are dead on...if you take the can't swing away on the fake bunt then you would have to keep the 1st/3rd baseman at a certain distance or they could stand 10 feet away from batter which would take the bunt out of the game I suppose....we don't use it but I have had it done to me and I have no problem with it....it could be dangerous but so is a kid pitching 75-80mph from 50 feet....quote:
Originally posted by Alter-Ego
I think at 13U, where you move to 80' bases and the infield opens up some, it is used to draw the corners in, to allow a drive over their heads.
While I don't really like most of the intentions with it's use in the lower age groups (11U and below) it has to be an option to keep the corners from sprinting in on a batter squaring to bunt. If you are going to say "No Fake bunts" you need to draw an infield line and say "Cannot charge inside the line" for the infielders. I think that would be stupid, so leave it like it is and teach your corners how to field a bunt get the batter out.
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ronicard
117 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 14:47:15
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quote:
Originally posted by sirlurker
Another fake bunt situation...
I didn't see the play but maybe someone can offer a thought...12U Silver Championship game at Triple Crown Back to Brawl...final inning and Stars are down by 1 run...first two batters ground out..next batter gets HBP and goes to first...next batter is up and fake bunts but pulls back while runner on first steals...Ump calls Batter interference - batter out - game over. Haven't seen that call before...
Hold on, you're saying that a batter IN THE BATTER'S BOX was called out for interference? The only way I can see that being plausible is if he left the bat out over the plate in an obvious attempt to obstruct the catcher. But, if he pulled it back AND stayed in the batter's box, I cannot foresee a situation where inteference should ever be called there. |
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sirlurker
187 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 16:46:39
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Well I only have heard from the losing team but what they say happened is the kid showed bunt while the runner on 1st took off..in process of pulling back the bunt..the catcher stepped up to throw runner out and hit the batter's bat in the process of throwing...
Now I'm sure the other team would say that the batter intentionally stayed in the way of the catcher...
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baseballknowitall
17 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 16:56:22
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| USSSA does have this rule. According to Grand Slam it is for 14u and above. |
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No fake bunt rule
