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"Do you stop it right there? Of course not."
Mike,
That's exactly what the Little League umpire did . . . and in my opinion what should have been done. There are a myriad of examples and case law to support immediate cessation of the game. Since you're also citing hypotheticals, let's suppose a minor child was hit violently in the face with a thrown baseball, bleeding profusely and suffering an immediate stroke. Do you, as the officiating and responsible authority on the field, allow the play to continue or do you immediately call "TIME" and summon emergency assistance? Again . . . we're talking amateur and under-age youngsters.
Now we have a written guideline that says, "A game is to be immediately suspended at the sighting of lightning, etc." You still allow play to continue? Again I must ask, what possible defense would you have in the event someone got injured because you arbitrarily allowed a play to continue knowing full well you're in conflict with "prudent and reasonable" precautions?
Suppose again it was an uncaught 3rd strike . . . and the ball is being thrown all over God's creation while the batter is scampering around the bases . . . while lightning continues to strike the entire area. I feel the umpire did exactly what he should have done to prevent injury to players and spectators. And following the guidelines of immediately getting folks to shelter.
Jerry
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