Umpire rules a strike three (with 2 outs) but doesn't declare batter out because he perceives the cather dropped the third strike. Catcher believes he caught third strike so he roles the ball out toward the mound. Batter enters dugout, removes his helmet, replaces helmet and runs to first base. Both umpires say this is legal and batter is safe at first becaseu he was never declared out for the at-bat. I thought batter should be out, at a minimum, when he entered the dugout. Who is right?

The batter is out.....Under the old rule entering the dugout was all that was required....now I belive they are ruling that once you leave the dirt cutout you can be considered out....

Yes, batter's out. At some point the umpire will have to decide when the batter abandoned his attempt to advance. If he's in the dugout taking off his helmet, that'd do it for me in this case. I believe that does it for most any rulebook as well. There is a quote in WHATEVER book you're using under the Baserunning section that'll clarify it. See if you can find it. It's there.

In our leagues, the batter's circle is the standard call-out point due to no cutouts on some fields.

If you're a coach in this case, just be tactful and preceise in bringing it up to the blues.

The new ruling since 2006 I believe, is that once a batter leaves the dirt circle surrounding home plate without the intention of advancing to first he is automatically called out.

In little league games where there is no dirt circle this can get confusing as is often the case in our leauge. Some umpires will call the out imediately after the kid turns to walk to the dugout. This is of coarse a bad call because there is still a chance they will recognize the play (they have not yet been declared out/ batter sees the dropped ball) before they were to cross over that imaginary circle surrounding home plate. The umpire will say something like- "as soon as he turned he forfeited his right to run to first and the batter is thus out". The problem with this call though is that there is not a ruling for this in the official rules until he leaves that dirt circle. How many times in the major leagues do we see heavy hitters strike out and turn to walk back to the dugout and then notice the catcher running to the backstop to get the passed ball and then turn back around and run towards first base. The umpire will make no call of their being an out until that runner is tagged out or thrown out at first.

I have also seen where the hitter is called for strike three and they dont immediately realize the ball was dropped until the team is screaming at him to run, and that by this time he has walked onto the grass. While the catcher is still scrambling for the dropped ball in back of him the umpire calls the batter out because he stepped onto the grass before his intention to run to first base.

My understanding is that in FED (High School Ball), it's still in the rule book that the batter has until he enters the dugout, so I guess I will have to rule that way in FED games...

However, in Babe Ruth baseball (OBR), it has been written into their 2008 Rule Book that the batter is out when he leaves the dirt circle, so I will have to observe that rule in Babe Ruth games...

Since this is a HS site, I will confirm with the NFHS rule.....From the 2008 NFHS rule book page 55

Rule 8-4-art 1 i

The batter runner is out when:

i. On a dropped third strike, he gives up by entering the bench or dugout area. (condensed)

I love the word "area" in there. I call him out as soon as he gets near the dugout, especially with men on base.