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Originally posted by greymule
Guy rounds 3B and pulls up lame. Halfway home, he falls to the ground, clutching his hamstring. Call time out?
Without the injury, he would have been safe. But with it, he's a dead duck. Are we supposed to award him home?
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Nope
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Two outfielders collide and lie apparently unconscious on the ground. Do we call time out as the ball scoots away? Do we then say, "I guess that's a triple"? What if another outfielder immediately snags the ball and fires it in?
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Play it by ear, if the team continues to play, I will probably not kill the play unless teammates start out onto the field and give me know choice.
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To me, the play doesn't stop because of an injury, but you do call time at the earliest possible moment. No waiting to see whether somebody makes a late break for the next base. That will rarely be more than a few seconds. In the extraordinary case of someone getting a deep gash or suffering a severe blow to the head, then yes, immediate time out and later do the best you can sorting out the play.
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Yep, that's the way I look at it.
I would suggest that unless you are sure that something is gravely wrong (blood, head, knee and heel all pointing north, etc), you change nothing in the way you've umpired games in the past.
I guarantee you that somewhere along the way this season, someone will start killing plays at the drop of a hat (or the player wearing it). Eventually, the teams will catch on and expect everything to come to a screeching halt every time someone goes "ouch!"
There is no liability involved, unless you are certified in some portion of the world of medicine, as you cannot be expected to make medical judgments.