quote:
Originally posted by Art Hager:
I tossed this into the thread about putting your hand up, but I think the conversation swept by it. Or maybe everyone just ignored it. I'll try again:
Someone has retrieved a foul ball or two, and is ready to throw it/them in to you or the catcher. In a live ball situation (maybe B1 has just walked), suppose a ball is coming in from the sidelines, you and maybe the catcher are looking over that way, the ball is thrown to you, or to the catcher who hands it to you, and while this is going on, something fun happens on the field, maybe in the worst case a steal of home. Maybe the catcher still has the game ball, maybe the pitcher. Is time automatically out anywhere in this sequence of events, or should you bark out "time!" when it gets started? In general, how do you prevent a problem from developing in this situation? A little like brushing off the plate, but more likely to happen unexpectedly (yeh, I know, I shouldn't brush the plate unexpectedly).
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In over 3100 games I never had a problem with this.
If I had a live ball, I called time out when someone intended to throw a ball back in.
In my experience, though, baseballs generally come in during a dead ball.
I believe most players and coaches would consider the ball automatically dead when the umpire turned away to receive baseballs. (Now that's
not always the case in the big leagues, where they have a ball ball who brings them to the plate umpire.
Look at it this way: If something happens while you're handling your housekeeping duties, just say: "What's going on? I called time."
Who could say you didn't?
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Papa C
Editor, eUmpire