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I guess I'm hanging onto the past, but I love to call youth SP games. We call time when there is no obvious play anywhere in the infield and the ball is being held by an infielder. If no attempt is being made on a trailing runner who is advancing, I usually call time right before they get to the base. The only SP I call for youth here is PONY. Was watching a game my son was calling as a rookie. He was the PU. He was calling a game between teams from different cities that had different rules for this play. The ball was back in the infied, but the runners were still moving. He didn't call time, letting the play develop. The defensive coach started yelling to call time and ran out onto the field by the plate to talk to him. He held his hand out, indicating to wait. She grabbed his arm and spun him around and started yelling at him. Now, I gotta tell you, I was pretty interested in what his reaction would be, as he was 18 and the coach was in her 30's. He just politely told her to not ever touch him again, he'd talk to her when the play stopped. She refused to listen and kept yelling so the BU, who was the experienced one of the group, rather abruptly showed her the way to the parking lot.
The safest time to call time is just like Mike described it. No confrontations should arise out of that. Just make sure there aren't any local rules that say differently.
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Rick
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