Quote:
Originally posted by PeteBooth
Originally posted by Jay R
R2 is stealing third base and slides in safely. The ball gets away from the 3B and rolling in foul territory. R2 immediately asks for time not realising that the ball has gotten away.
Should I a) ignore his request because the play is not over or b) grant him time because he is only hurting himself.
BTW, there were no other runners on base.
I disagree with the others.
When is playing action over?
In this play there were NO OTHER runners to worry about and R2 was NOT going ANYWHERE and requested TIME, therefore, Grant it.
Why keep the play alive because the offense was not smart.
If there are other runners to worry about, then I say allow play to continue, but in this case we only had to worry about R2 so if he wants time then so be it.
Pete Booth
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Sorry, Pete - but I have to disagree on both philosophical and practical grounds.
"In this play there were NO OTHER runners to worry about and R2 was NOT going ANYWHERE and requested TIME, therefore, Grant it."
This is the philosphical part: I do not grant Time just 'cause some participant requests it.
In my neck of the woods, EVERY time a kid slides into a base, I've got a Coach yelling: "Call Time!" The ball could be in center field or the next county over. I've got coaches wanting the Batter to "call Time" if they think F1 is "taking too long" [mind you - the 20 sec. haven't passed yet] to decide if it's gonna be a pitch or pick. Sorry, guys: you get Time if it's needed for some legit reason, but in BB the default condition is the ball is live & in play.
Now here's the practical part:
I'm keeping the ball live 'cause the O may be not merely "not smart", they may be positively idiotic, and do something that produces one of my required 39-42 outs: OR the D may compound the existing error and kick the ball into DBT or o/w do something compelling a base award. While I would not MIND explaining to R's Coach that the reason he wasn't awarded Home was that his runner asked for and received Time before the event happened, a Coach that knows the rules and mechanics [the very worst kind] would certainly chide me for granting Time before all playing action was completed.