Quote:
Originally posted by Jerry
Seems simple enough to me. Once an umpire signals/verbalizes "Time", all play ceases and no runner may advance or any other action be completed.
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I suspect in the scenario given, U1 didn't even consider where R3 was or what he was doing; he saw the pitch, saw lightning and called the game. A responsibility which belongs to him alone.
Jerry
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Possibly, but ending in the middle of a play is a suspicious and unusual act. I'm suspecting more along the line of Sandlin's reasoning.
We say that at the first sight of lightning we clear the field "immediately." However we all know it takes time to clear the field - 5-10 seconds for the outfielders to get off the field. It seems unreasonable to me that an umpire would kill play in the middle of an impending score and say 'POOF' everyone has got to be off the field. Why not allow the 5-10 seconds of impending play to ensue and then tell everyone to get off the field?
Obviously, it is either a delay due to lightning (and the pitch cannot count - in my mind you can't stop with the escape of the passed ball) or you end the game and the score must revert to that of the last completed inning. No way would I say that it was acceptable to only allow 1/2 the play - count the pitch but not the score. Uh-uh!
