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| Jan. 30 cuda65 69 posts | Facing one batter I witnessed this I believe in Phoenix this past year at the World`s. An infielder was warming up the other infielders from near the pitchers box while the pitcher was getting his gear on after having batted in the previous inning and the umpire made that infielder pitch to at least one batter. The pitcher played third base for that one batter, then they switched positions. I`m not sure if the infielder pitched one warm-up pitch to home plate during that time he was warming up the other infielders. I believe the umpire ruled that if someone pitches one warm up pitch to home plate, he must face at least one batter. Is it legal for and infielder to warm up the other infielders from near the pitchers mound? |
| Jan. 30 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | Facing one batter The same happened to me in the late 80's. It's an old ASA rule and I'm surprised it is still in any of the rule books. |
| Jan. 30 SSUSA Staff 3509 posts | Facing one batter January 30, 2015 - B.J. - 72 posts there is nothing wrong with the player warming up the infielders from there....also the umpire should not have made him pitch to 1 batter....what the umpire should have done if the player tossed a warm up pitch to the catcher is only allow 2 more warm up pitches...not the standard three....also in some tournaments after the 1st inning no warm ups are allowed in the infield or by the pitcher because of time constraints |
| Jan. 30 Fred S Men's 85 297 posts | Facing one batter I seen that called in a tournament in Canada about 13 yrs ago. I found over the years that the Canadian umps were very strict. That same tournament, the only time I seen it, the ump called a pinch runner out because he had a watch on. The other weird call I seen up there was a pitcher called for pitching the ball at an excessive speed for slow pitch. All in all the London Ont tournaments were some of my favorite tournaments. |
| Jan. 30 Garocket Men's 55 259 posts | Facing one batter The most outlandish rule I ever seen was in 1979 ASA, think it only lasted for 1 year. If the starting pitcher was replaced with another player he could not return to the mound, but if the second third or 4th pitcher was replaced they could go back to the pitching mound as many times as needed So what we did was let a non pitcher pitch to the 1st batter then brought our number 1 pitcher in that way he could be replaced as many times as needed and go back to the mound. Now ain't that something |
| Jan. 30 neck10 714 posts | Facing one batter yea that trick was learned fast |
| Jan. 30 cuda65 69 posts | Facing one batter SSUSA Staff: I realize that in order to save time, there are no warm ups for the infield after the first inning. What I was saying was since the pitcher was going to be delayed while putting on his gear, the infielder was tossing the game ball around to the other infielders. As soon as the pitcher was on the field of play, I tossed the ball to him. No time was wasted. In my mind, there was no delay and violation. Do you agree? |
| Jan. 30 SSUSA Staff 3509 posts | Facing one batter We don't have an opinion on the narrowly structured fact pattern you describe for your team. Since all games other than Championship (and "If") games are "on the clock", our goal is to have the highest percentage of that clock time utilized actually playing softball. Here is a (partial) list of things that can, and should, be done by all teams if they have an interest in maximizing the actual softball playing time percentage in a timed game: • Be at the field early, warmed up and ready to go; • Have the official game card filled out and exchange lineup cards with your opponent early; • Have courtesy runners identified, staged and ready to go NOW rather than meandering out of the dugout; • Hustle on and off the field between half-innings at bat; • Approach an at-bat quickly and get in the batter's box ready to hit; • Have your pitcher "gear up" before the half-inning at bat ends if he's not on base, batting or about to bat; • Limit or eliminate excessive warm-up pitches and/or infield practice; and • Make player substitution decisions efficiently. This is not an all-inclusive list, but the more of those things you choose to do will result in more 7-inning games for your team. |
| Jan. 30 stick8 1992 posts | Facing one batter Staff if I may add one more to your list: --no throwing the ball around the infield after a recorded out. ball goes right back to the pitcher |
| Jan. 30 B.J. 1108 posts | Facing one batter cuda65....if in the pre-game meeting the umpires stated there will be no warm ups after the 1st inning then there should have been no reason to do so...but since they did, what the umpire should have done was just yell out, balls in no warm ups between innings....there is no penalty in the rule book for what the player did, so when the pitcher comes out he should have pitched ... just to add a little more to this with the new pitching rules.. 6.17 • PITCHER'S MANDATED MINIMUM SAFETY EQUIPMENT and 6.17(1) • RELEASE (INJURY TO PLAYER) I would never tell a player that he must pitch to 1 batter that is a big liability to assume |
| Jan. 30 cuda65 69 posts | Facing one batter B.J., the ball we were throwing around was the game ball. It seems to me there is no harm in doing that since the pitcher was still in the dugout putting on his equipment. As soon as he crossed the foul line, I tossed him the ball. |
| Jan. 30 garyheifner 651 posts | Facing one batter good point BJ. Maybe the ump should have had to sit out one batter for forcing a player to pitch without protective gear. Maybe the staff should contact this ump and remind him of what he did as to safety. |
| Jan. 31 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Facing one batter Of course I would have to have been there to really be sure, but the umpire side of me is thinking that there is a clock running down. You said the pitcher is STILL putting on his equipment, and you have time to warm up the infield. My inclination with adults would be to award a ball on the batter as a remedy to try to get a team to institute a little hustle on getting ready to play defense without wasting precious time. Now that is not the remedy in 5.10(3) and does not fit 1.54 for declaring "play ball"; so now I get to have some lively discussions with others. Do we need to think about time limits like the younger guys have? For them it is easy, get the batter in the box, call play ball, and for the time listed in their rule books, give the batter a ball for as long as it takes the defense to get ready. I ended up with a batter on 1B once in a regional years ago, but that defensive team made sure to be ready after that (it actually ended up to their advantage because the next batter hit into a double play). I know this will not be a popular thought, but remember that the umpire has the responsibility to keep control of the game and keep it moving along. It was not fair to the batting team if the defense was using up the clock. This might be fine in leagues but not tournament play. Everyone knows that there are 3 outs per half inning and should be ready to switch from offense to defense. |
| Jan. 31 Jawood Men's 50 943 posts | Facing one batter Regarding the staff's suggestions to maximize playing time ... "Have the official game card filled out and exchange with the opponent early". Do the umpires have all the cards that they'll be working or are they at the check in area?. Many times the umpires will give these out right before game time and we need to get them earlier, especially if we are the one making out the lineup and trying to get ready to play a game. |
| Jan. 31 SSUSA Staff 3509 posts | Facing one batter Most field directors distribute the entire day's game cards to the field of play and, even if umpires rotate in and out, the cards should be on a clipboard behind the plate, inside the fence. Teams are supposed to be present and ready to play 30 minutes before game time (Rulebook §5.1 B.), so the smart move would be to approach the plate umpire between half-innings at bat and request the next game card. |
| Feb. 1 B.J. 1108 posts | Facing one batter while we are are on the subject of time...here's some reasons that after a few games a field gets an hour or more behind...it seems no one is ever in a hurry until the clock gets down below 10 minutes...then the complaining starts especially in a close game....it seems its always the umpire or directors fault....why is it when I'm on a field umpiring and a game is finished that I'm always calling out to both teams for their line up cards, it is your responsibility to have them ready... then I call out and wait several minutes for the managers or team reps. to come out for ground rules, immediately after ground rules I call out HOME TEAM TAKE THE FIELD PLEASE... this is the best one, because now for some reason a team that has been standing for an hour waiting to play... they have to get the whole team together congregate outside the dugout and have their KUM BA YA moment which takes a few more minutes then comes the 1st inning warm up tosses...which they could have been doing during the short pre-game meeting....now thats a lot of wasted time |
| Feb. 1 SSUSA Staff 3509 posts | Facing one batter B.J. - Here's another very frequent, and avoidable, time wasting occurrence: As soon as a timed game gets to the top of the 6th inning under the limit, quite often teams take their foot "off the gas", knowing the game is going to go the full seven innings and they can coast on in. Any sense of urgency to play with pace is lost and those last two innings often take as much time as any three or four innings in the game up to that point. |
| Feb. 1 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | Facing one batter SSUSA Staff, I agree with the perception that teams stop hustling as much when they see they are going to get a complete game in, but disagree with the time spent being as much as three or four innings! A bit of an exaggeration. Of course the open inning can last longer, but often the home team doesn't even bat in the last inning. Agree that teams should be ready to go, but it won't cost THAT much time that they dawdle a bit in the sixth. |
| Feb. 1 SSUSA Staff 3509 posts | Facing one batter Omar ... I thought I wrote "...those last two innings often take as much time as any three or four innings in the game up to that point..." ... With the 7th being "open", by definition a longer inning if the home team bats, it's been our frequent experience that those last two take at lease as long as the first three, or sometime, four innings ... Regardless, going into "coast mode" is more a factor in schedule slippage, because, "Heck, we got our seven!" ... |
