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Originally Posted by slowballbaker
I know the double switch rule applies in the game of baseball, but is there a double switch rule in fastpitch softball?
Thanks
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"Double switch" is a common term used in baseball, and is most commonly used with regards to substitutions done in the National League due to the fact that the pitcher must bat for himself.
Yet, a "double switch" can be performed in the American League or in any softball game, for that matter.
When a coach brings in two substitutes at the same time, he must specify where they are batting in the order (or, for
whom they are substituting.)
Example: Let's say a team is currently on defense. The coach is already thinking ahead of the half inning when his team comes in to bat. One of his weaker hitters is due up in the next inning (in the National League, this is typically the pitcher, but it could be
any weak hitter.) Let's say this weak hitter (the pitcher) bats 9th in the order and is due to leadoff the next inning.
So the coach does a "double switch". He brings in a new pitcher and, at the same time, brings in a new right fielder (who happens to be batting 8th in the order). The coach tells the umpire that the new right fielder is actually replacing the pitcher's spot in the order (#9 spot) and the new pitcher is actually replacing the right fielder's spot in the order (#8 spot). After all, the batting order is not
position specific, it's
player specific.
The net effect is that the new right fielder (a better hitter) leads off the next inning and the new pitcher (a weak hitter) is not due up for a very long time. What is accomplished by such a substitution is that the weak hitter is continually moved away from having their turn at bat. By the time the new pitcher is scheduled to bat (which may never happen if it's late in the game), another "double switch" is pulled off.
Like I said, this can be done in softball or even in the American League, but there is seldom any motivation to do so due to the differences in the rules. The American League seldom has a hitter in their line-up that is
so weak that the coach needs to burn through his substitutes in such a convoluted manner to avoid his ever coming to bat. If the hitter is that weak he probably wouldn't be in the starting lineup in the first place whereas the National League has to bite the bullet and allow their pitcher to bat.
In softball, typically, the substitution rules are so liberal with the re-entries, and DH's and FLEX's and DP's and EP's and so on that there is seldom any need to do this.
By the way, the "double switch" is not a
rule, per se. It's just a term given to a double substitution where the defensive position of the players in the batting lineup is altered to facilitate an offensive objective.
In fact a manager could make a "triple switch", a "quadruple switch", or for that matter, bring in
9 new players and basically reconstruct a completely new batting order, placing the 9 substitutes anywhere in the batting order he chooses.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN