Quote:
Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu
And once players returned to their positions ready to resume play, I didn't see PU make a beconing motion to the pitcher putting the ball in play again.
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I used to do this each and every time after play was killed...back in my baseball days anyway. When I started umpiring softball, I was told, despite what the books say, that it was essentially unnecessary to do this.
Kinda makes sense. In baseball where runners lead off, the ball must be visibly put back into play so that everyone knows a runner off the base is now in danger to be picked off. Also, appeals require the ball to be put into play (at least in those baseball organizations where deadball appeals don't exist). And pitchers cannot balk during a dead ball, so there are no violations until the plate umpire calls play. Don't have to worry about that in softball.
In softball, I've been told that play is assumed to be live when the situation warrants. I've sometimes wondered what would happen when a pitcher violates the illegal pitch rule before that assumption. For example, after time was called, the pitcher steps on the plate with hands joined, and then separates them before looking in for the signal. Should we ignore that?
I certainly would call the IP if time hadn't been called beforehand. But I ignore the "violation" when it happens at a point where, if I were to visibly call/signal play, I would not have done so yet. It certainly would be less of a issue if I did signal all the time.