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Okay, now that the coach has civily brought the rule book onto the field and is showing you the rule which under THEIR interpretation justifies THEIR argument, what are you going to do when you tell them that THEIR interpretation is incorrect according to .
Do you honestly believe the coach who has gone through all the trouble to look up this rule and enter the field in front of everyone to show you who knows what, is just going to say, "Oh, okay" and walk back to the dugout?
As others are confident in their knowledge of the rules to face the coach with the book, I, too, am confident. Confident enough to tell the coach the he has had his say (without a rule book) and we are moving on with the game. If he still protests, I tell him to give me his scorebook so I can sign it, inform the opposing coach the game is being played under protest and then move on.
As an umpire or a tournament UIC, I have never seen both coaches walk away happy from any argument, even when there has been iron-clad evidence (even with a rule book) to prove them wrong. My feeling is that the only times a rule book comes onto the field is if the umpire is unsure themselves and requests a coach's input or a UIC uses one in a conference involving a protest.
But those are just my opinions. We go with what works and it is not the same for everyone.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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