[CraigD]

Dave,

If there is a time limit and it is clear the batter switching bats (or untying and retying his shoes, etc) is an effort to kill time (usually at the end of the game) you MIGHT have an argument. However, in our league here in Israel where we play with a time limit, that kind of delay is usually considered unsportsmanlike and is revisited in the parking lot after the game.

In the normal flow of the game, I might think a player is dumb for bringing the wrong bat to the plate or for taking the wrong glove to left field, but players do a lot of things I think are dumb. So do coaches. Heck, I once saw an umpire do something that I thought was stupid.

Generally in team sports, players who do dumb things (that are not against the rules) are usually punished by the opponent, and shouldn't be punished by the umpire/referee/judge.

It is common for pitchers to lazily throw the ball to first base in an effort to "keep the runner close." However, everyone knows he isn't really trying to pick off the runner and simply stepping off the pitching rubber has the same effect. In cases like these, do you warn the pitcher he can't lazily throw to first because it is a waste of time and interferes with the flow of the game?

Have you ever allowed a pitcher to change balls because the current ball "just doesn't feel right"?

My point: How closely do you manage/limit ALL the other interuptions (and there are MANY) to the flow of the game?

If a player OCCASSIONALLY decides to change bats or gloves, what is that to me? Bad decisions and changes of mind are part of the game.