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In this case I think I would have permitted the conference, but would have stopped the clock for the injury. The conference is a legal part of clock management; just like using a full amount of time to warm-up, the allowed time between pitches, or even throwing balls or taking strikes to waste time. I stop the clock for injuries. Injuries should not be part of clock management and teams should not be encouraged to fake injuries in order to waste time. Whats to stop the team who is ahead from having a player pretend to twist an ankle and lay on the ground for 5 minutes having it looked at then get up 'shake it off' and keep playing, but now just needing to get the last out to win the game. Even if they substitute for the player, it still served the purpose of possibly causing a game to end that may not have ended otherwise. I usually annouce that injuries will not take away from playing time allowed. This also encourages those that are truly hurt to get help since it won't cost their team.
JMO
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Travis
ASA Umpire
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