Quote:
Originally Posted by Moonliner
I think he has it correct. The batter is show to be "unaware" and so does not swing at all, largely because the ball reaches him long before he could even twitch.
Reading the rule he cites, if the batter is hit by the ball and is not swinging at the pitch they are awarded a base.
Although you could make a fairly good argument that the batter made no attempt to move out of the way of the ball.
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If the ball hits the bat first, it doesn't matter if it then hits the player. If it hits the player first it doesn't matter if it then hits the bat.
Assuming a normal stance I think it is safe to assume particles would have hit the player first.
That leaves a discretionary ruling on the batter not attempting to avoid the ball. But umpires rarely call that unless they feel the player was actually trying to get hit so I think it would be unlikely.
Another fundamentally important question is what inning this was in so that we know whether the game needs to be replayed, called with the current score, or continued later if tied.