Question for my fellow umpires

[Sheriff10]

Something occurred this weekend that I thought I was 100% correct on, but got split answers from the guys I call with. I have researched the ASA umpires rulebook, but cannot find it described.

Time running out. Home team at bat with 2 outs and down 1 run.

The batter is in the box. The pitcher has toed the pitcher's plate.

At the instruction of the coach, the batter places her toes on home plate. No pitch is thrown.

I had nothing. The coaches were angry that we did not call her out. It is my interpretation of the rules that if the batter had crossed the plate or had made contact with a pitched ball while in contact with the plate, she would have been called out.

What do you guys have?

[SoCalASABlue]

Seems to me there is some significant information left out of your OP.

If the home team is down one run and at bat, the clock running out is immaterial unless you have a drop dead, in which case the score would simply revert back to the last completed inning.

Not really sure your question can be answered as asked...

[Sheriff10]

OK. It was not drop dead. It was bracket play. Had we called the batter out, there would have still been time on the clock and we would have started a new inning. As it was, the discussion we had over this issue killed the remaining time. That's what the coach was upset about.

[SoCalASABlue]

What could you have called her out on? Stepping on the plate? Unless there's a pitch thrown, I don't see any infraction on the batter.

And I still don't see why the home team coach DOWN A RUN would want his own batter to be called out and end the game while HIS TEAM IS DOWN A RUN.

[Sheriff10]

With time on the clock, he wants to end the current inning so that we would start a new inning. Really, the reason is not important. My question is does simply contacting the plate in the described situation, require the batter to be called out.

I believe your response was: not unless she made contact with a pitched ball while in contact with the plate.

That's what I had too.

[MTR]

Something occurred this weekend that I thought I was 100% correct on, but got split answers from the guys I call with. I have researched the ASA umpires rulebook, but cannot find it described.

Time running out. Home team at bat with 2 outs and down 1 run.

The batter is in the box. The pitcher has toed the pitcher's plate.

At the instruction of the coach, the batter places her toes on home plate. No pitch is thrown.

I had nothing. The coaches were angry that we did not call her out. It is my interpretation of the rules that if the batter had crossed the plate or had made contact with a pitched ball while in contact with the plate, she would have been called out.

What do you guys have?

I'm holding the pitcher until the batter has both feet completely within the box (7.3.A) After 10 seconds, Strike 1. "Batter, you must have both feet in the box. This is a warning, please move into the box." If the batter refuses to comply, "TIME". Do not stop the clock.

"Coach, your batter is intentionally violating a rule. If you continue these antics and/or your batter refuses to comply with my direction, by rule (5.4.E & F), the game will be forfeited."

Absolutely harsh, but the coach knows (or should know) what s/he is doing.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Just curious .... what age group was this ? ... As a Blue I would be annoyed by the tactic ... as a Coach I would never* intentionally give the other team another 3 outs in this situation ... I tell my batter to make some contact and do it quick ... and hopefully she gets on base and gets something started ...

*EDIT: ... okay, never is a strong word ... but right now I can't think of very many, any situations where I would pull this sort of clock mis-management ...

[Sheriff10]

Would you do it in this situation?

You are home team. You are down in the score. 2 outs. Nobody on base. 30 seconds on the clock. The opposing team is doing everything they can to stall and run time off the clock so that a new inning will not start thus giving your team another 3 outs to catch up rather than the 1 remaining in that inning?

I see this quite often in the timed games. The responses I'm getting are really surprising me.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Would you do it in this situation?

You are home team. You are down in the score. 2 outs. Nobody on base. 30 seconds on the clock. The opposing team is doing everything they can to stall and run time off the clock so that a new inning will not start thus giving your team another 3 outs to catch up rather than the 1 remaining in that inning?

I see this quite often in the timed games. The responses I'm getting are really surprising me.

Ahhhh ... the OP never stated that the defensive team "is doing everything they can to stall and run time off the clock so that a new inning will not start" ... As a Blue I say "hustle in, hustle out" after the 3rd out every inning .... I'm not letting the defensive team pull that crap ... and as a Coach I would be in the Blues ear ...

[Bretman]

Would you do it in this situation?

You are home team. You are down in the score. 2 outs. Nobody on base. 30 seconds on the clock. The opposing team is doing everything they can to stall and run time off the clock so that a new inning will not start thus giving your team another 3 outs to catch up rather than the 1 remaining in that inning?

I see this quite often in the timed games. The responses I'm getting are really surprising me.

As the home team coach, I would kick myself either for not scoring more runs or preventing the other team from scoring them during the regulation time period I was fully aware of before the game even started!

And if I'm like a lot of coaches, when it looks grim for my team I cry that the other team is "cheating". If that fails, I blame the umpire. You can always blame the umpire! It's so much easier to blame somebody else for my own team's failures.

Define "doing everything they can to stall". This always gets dicey when playing a sport not designed to be played under a clock and thus having no rules whatsoever that address clock management. In football you can spike the ball or step out of bounds. In basketball you can spread your offense or purposely foul someone. A timed softball game doesn't really give you much option other than to just play the game within the existing rules.

Teams can legally "stall" many ways and I can't blame them for doing that- they are simply taking advantage of the conditions set forth that apply equally to both teams. The sword of a game clock cuts both ways- sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it doesn't. Pitchers get 20 seconds to throw the next pitch and they can legally use every last one of them. Batters get 10 seconds to get ready in the box and there's nothing you can do about that. Substitutions may be made at any point in the game and if a team wants to make one with 30 seconds left on the clock there's nothing that says they can't.

There isn't really much an umpire can do until the "stalling" becomes an illegal tactic obviously designed to delay or hasten the game. Failing to take the field in a timely manner, faking an injury or requesting frivolous time outs to tie your shoes or switch your bat might be obvious examples. Then, about all you can really do is warn the offending team (which takes more time off the clock) and enforce a forfeit if the tactics continue.

Up until that point, all an umpire can do is what any umpire should always be doing in any game. Keep the teams hustling in and out, not grant time needlessly, minimize delays, enforce the time limits between pitches or at-bats and keep the game flowing as smoothly as possible.

Your first post indicates that you got "split answers" on how to deal with a situation. Are you asking about the correct rule an umpire should apply or what the best coaching strategy is to handle this? You already got the correct ruling from the umpire's standpoint. A batter touching the plate before the pitch is delivered isn't an infraction that warrants an out being called. Do not allow the pitcher to pitch. Instruct the batter to take a proper position in the batter's box. If she fails to comply, start calling penalty strikes.

If you're looking for a coaching option, you're between a rock and a hard place that your own team put you in by not playing better for the previous X-number or innings or X-number of minutes that were alloted to you. With 30 seconds left on the clock, the defense doesn't have to do anything too fancy to get to the time limit. Just take about 15 seconds to throw one pitch way off the plate, then do it again and the clock has expired.

I guess you could have the batter set up properly in the box, let the pitcher throw a pitch, then purposely step on the plate and actually contact the ball with the bat. That would be an out, but even that can backfire. You have to hope that the umpire sees and recognizes the infraction (it's not always easy to spot while tracking the pitch, so you need to make it obvious), that whoever is keeping the game clock is attentive to it within seconds and that the officials realize that even if one second is left when the third out of the half-inning is made that you're supposed to play another inning (not all of them do).

At that point you're kind of grasping at straws and have to hope that the stars have aligned just right for things to go in your favor. But you made your own bed and now you're lying in it. Maybe if you had played better the rest of the game, you wouldn't be in this crummy position at the end of the game!