The only reason the pitch hit him is because his hands moved into the ball when he started to swing. I thought when you swung, the hand was a part of the bat, hence that would be a foul ball, not a swinging third strike. I could be wrong (obviously) I know that if a batter swings and misses a pitch and it hits him, it is a dead ball strike. However, what happens if he swings at the pitch and it hits his hand? Is his hand considered an extension of the bat and the ball is live, or is it a dead ball strike because it hit the body? Thanks, -- T. Albertina Layne: Well, let me ask you a question. If he puts a bat in his hand, and he drops it, is his hand going to drop with the bat or his hand going to stick to his body? So is his hand part of the bat? So, it's kind of common sense. If he gets hit in the hands, that's his body, if he gets hit in his bat, that's his bat. And if he swings, he doesn't go to first base when he gets hit. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/umpires/feature.jsp?feature=montagueqa