[MD Longhorn]

I'm not jumping down your throat like I did Pete - you are asking for input, and not sure whether what you did was right ... and at least are not advocating blatantly making up rules to curtail something you just don't like.

But...

Originally Posted by edhern

After the play, the manager anounces out loud something to the effect of "now we have time for another inning." To me that is showing up the umpire and throwing in my face what he did. This is an ejection in my mind and I bet the majority of those out there would have tossed the manager.

Profane, prolonged, or personal. If this is an ejection by itself, I suggest getting thicker skin. If this comment was after some sort of related argument, and it was obvious he was trying to show you up, fine, toss him. By itself, this comment doesn't sound ejectionable.

Time limit:
It is no inning can start after, the inning goes to completion, not a drop dead time. He has the opportunity to score and win the game. If the batter hit the next pitch into a double play, the next inning starts. Don't say I was looking to get out of there early.

I didn't. I said Pete was. I don't think this was your motivation at all. I think your motivation was that you thought he was breaking a rule, and you were enforcing that rule. My only response to this is that it was not, in fact, breaking a rule, and you overstepped your authority inadvertently.

In fact, the game afterwards received one start time and really started three minutes later. We gave them three minutes and at 12:27 am (yes, a.m.) we started a new inning without sticking to the original time limit and finished the game at 12:55 a.m. (don't ask about the scheduling). So there was a perfect time to end the game by rule at 12:27 and we didn't.

At the risk of sounding like I'm just trying to be contrary to everything ... this is just as bad. The game ends when the game ends. Don't cut it short, and don't "give them another inning". Had the lead changed hands in that "extra inning", your decision to go outside the time limit could have cheated one team.

Now interpreting the rule:
The only thing that is clear is that there is no rule. I will stand by my interpretation and feel I can make a reasonable argument for what I did. A reasonable argument. Only my association can make a determination on how to deal with what happened. Both the President and Umpire-in-Chief did not say what I did was necessarily wrong, but took the politically safe way out regarding their relationship with the account and I took one for the team without asking for an appeal.

Fair enough. Just know for the future that there is no rule against getting out on purpose to try to get a new inning in in a time limit game. There IS a rule against delaying, but this is the opposite.

The below sections seem to be weak justifications for what you did, in retrospect. But I'll hit each one.

1.02 The objective of each team is to win by scoring more runs than the opponent.
The team was not trying to win by scoring more runs and thus not fulfilling the objective of the game.

The objective is not a rule per se as much as a definition. There's no penalty for violating a definition.

4.15 A game may be forfeited to the opposing team when a team:
(b) Employs tactics palpably designed to delay or shorten the game;
Again, in my opinion, he had the opportunity to win the game if he played on. The manager chose to deliberately delay the end of the game for whatever purpose went through his mind.

I don't know how it's an opinion to reverse the definition of "delay" or "shorten". This rule applies to situations exactly opposite from the one you were confronted with. Employing a tactic that a manager thinks will help him win by getting to another inning, for whatever reason, is not illegal.

9.01

(c) Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.
This is clearly not covered in specifically in the rules and this was my interpretation.

This has been covered here before... but if you have to resort to 9.01c, you are probably misinterpreting something. If a hangglider lands on your field ... an earthquake disrupts play ... a fence falls into the field... etc - go get your 9.01c. MOST things that can be anticipated are in the rulebook ... and a coach letting his kids get out so he can play another inning has SURELY been anticipated.

9.04 (a) The umpire in chief shall stand behind the catcher. (He usually is called the plate umpire.) His duties shall be to:
(1) Take full charge of, and be responsible for, the proper conduct of the game;

In my opinion, this was not proper conduct of the game.

So eject. Conduct is one thing. Tactics is completely different, and covered elsewhere.

If this was a court of law it would require case law to decide and there is none because this type of situation with time limits is not covered by MLB rules. There is no resolution only opinions, once again, thanks for yours.

This is not the first time this has ever happened. Trust us (not just me), a wealth of experience here has told you that what this manager did is not illegal. Folks that have faced this. Folks that have been in rooms when rule changes are discussed. Trust me - it's not illegal.