I get that there are times when a coach wants to "get it over with". But if they really need an out, I wish that they'd find some other way to get it besides making
US look like the bad guys!
Why don't they just tell their runner to walk into the dugout? There's an out for ya!
A couple of years ago I had a blowout game where a coach said his runners would be leaving early. Only the first few runners didn't, so I didn't call any imaginary outs. Then later in the inning a runner finally did leave early and I called her out. As he's walking across the field, the same coach that told me they'd be leaving early is looking ticked off and says, "I didn't want you to call THAT runner out!".
