Batter must verbally call time?

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by LRZ

I'm firmly in the "keep the ball alive" school. Just because a batter puts his hand up as he settles into the box, I'm not going to call time. For safety, I will, however, stop a pitcher, if the batter is not set.

Same on a slide, if the kid doesn't really need to dust off: "You don't need it, stay on the bag and climb the ladder."

Problem here is that after watching the pros on TV routinely granting time it makes the players, coaches, and fans think you're a doofus when you don't.