I just wanted to know what you guys think about this play. I think I did the right thing but I want other opinions.

I am working the plate. The home team is in the field and the visiting team is at bat. R1 is on first base. The pitcher throws a ball in the dirt and hits the catcher square in the throat. The ball completely stops right in front of the catcher and R1 does not move at all. The catcher after a second or two gets up and starts walking to the bench area. The catcher is obviously hurt, but I could not tell how much. Then the runner starts to run to second base after a couple of seconds, but at the same time I kill the play. Now the visiting coach did not say anything at first. He waited until the current batter hit a ball into the outfield and moved R1 to third on a double. I happened to cover 3rd base and then the coach decided to say something to me. He was very cordial and respectful. The coach just wanted to know why I killed the play. The conversation went on without incident and he did not buy my explanation, but seemed to deal with it.

Now I asked my partner what he thought and he did not agree with me killing the play, but praised me for my explanation to the coach.

Now I want to get opinions if you feel I did the right thing by killing the play because I felt the kid might have been really hurt? Or do you feel I should have just let R1 run all over the diamond until someone picked it up?

Peace

[Edited by JRutledge on May 17th, 2005 at 04:21 AM]

JRut,

I think you did the right thing here. The key to your post is that you waited a couple seconds before killing it. Think of it in terms of being on the basketball court. Kid gets injured, and if there is no chance of anyone really making a play to the hoop, you kill it. I think the same concept applies here and, IMO, you applied it correctly.

I have to agree. Although I know I am going to take heat for my opinion, I would kill the play as soon as it is clear the catcher is really hurt ( going to the bench area ). Yes, R1 might advance and get all the way to 3rd or maybe even score, but I feel the spirit of the game, sportsmanship etc. was important enough to worry about the safety of the players. I could have just stood there and let the play unravel, but I am pretty sure that the catcher's teammates would have been running to his aid and not worried about playing on R1.
You were right . . . .
in my humble opinion.

I think you did the right thing in this situation. It sounds like you had a "dropped (not caught) third strike" since BR was heading to 1B. Did you allow BR 1B? Or, were there less than 2 outs and BR was out? Anyway, questioning why you killed the play after the next pitch (base hit) was a moot point. If he was so sharp, he would have yelled at BR to run to 1B right away, if allowed.

There was a thread here a few weeks ago about killing the play on an injury. It seems the consensus was that you don't kill the play if there's continuous action. The extra 10 seconds it takes to complete the play isn't going to be life-threatening.

In your case, as soon as you saw that the runners were stationary and the BR was staying put, continous action is over and you kill the play. If the runners don't start to move until the catcher starts walking to the dugout, then it sounds like there was no continous action.

Would you have granted time if the catcher asked for it? From your description, play was stopped and I'd grant time in this case. So pretend the catcher asked for it.

This was not a dropped third strike. This was just a pitch. No one struck out or walked. There was just a runner on first base.

Peace

Then why was someone running to first base?

That was a mistake on my part. I only described R1. The BR did not go anywhere.

Peace

This is REAL simple in my mind, especially in sports where kids under 18 are involved. I do both Ice Hockey and Baseball, and if a player's injury, (IN MY OPINION), is serious enough to kill the play, I WILL DO IT EVERY TIME.

Im not jumping the gun here but, I would say error on the side of caution. The players health is BY FAR more important then the game. ANY COACH that is going to give me a hard time about that, is not staying around long to see the rest of the game.

By the same token, I officiated a contest last year in a semi-pro league and the pitcher was knocked out cold by the catcher's throw to second. We didn't immediately kill the play until the catcher retrieved the ball, and the runner advanced to 3rd, from 1st. Different League, differnt way to handle the situation.

I suggest you ALWAYS error on the side of caution when dealing with players under 18.

And,
 

I would not have killed the play.

I can't criticize Jeff. I see the catcher go down in a heap and I tend to try to stop play.

Jeff's post doesn't say how old the players are. I'm pretty much with jicecone. For college, men's leagues (except the geezers), and maybe HS varsity-age, I'd probably let the play run unless we are talking about lots of blood, compound/complex fractures, head injuries, etc.

Anything else, I'd probably kill it more quickly. The less on the line, the quicker.

An injury to the throat may be life-threatening, even if the player gets up and moves. There is no way of knowing what damage, if any, has occured. The safety of the player comes first. Kill the ball, R1 to 2B.

Bob

I seem to be in the minority here. But I don't kill the play. Someone asked if JR would have called time if asked at that moment - and in that position, with relaxed action I probably would have... but no one DID call time, and it's not my job to do so. Baseball is a live-action sport.

I will only kill the play if an injury is so severe that the extra few seconds might make a difference, or if action has become relaxed and the ball is in control somewhere. Give me the same situation as the initial post, but pitcher has the ball in hand, and I might be inclined to call time.

And I agree,
 

I have catchers that get hit (seriously) rather often. I never stop the play. When play is done I always stop the action and give F2 time to recoop!

I would not have even considered stopping the play on this example. Guess that make me join the minority also.

Tim,
I think the "minority" here, might actually be the "majority". The play needs to finish. There are times when players simply have the wind knocked out of them, experience a tramatic hit to the arm, leg, head; but without lasting consequence . . . even players apparently choking on their own spit. Obviously if you've got a severed limb lying on the ground, you'd have a different situation.

What do you do when a player accidently loses his helmet while running the bases? The odds of severe head injury increase dramatically, but you still allow action.

What if a player, not involved in the play, clutches his chest while there's still action going on? You don't call "time" in those situations either . . . or do you?

Jerry

Re: And I agree,
 

Please increment the minority count by one more.

Re: Re: And I agree,
 

And one more.

Guess it was just the early-risers stopping play on this. :)

Re: Re: Re: And I agree,
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And one more.........

I'd say always error on the side of safety. Liability reprocussions could insue.

I see your point in extreme circumstances.

But who's safety are you worried about here. Catcher's already hurt. Killing the play doesn't heal him faster. I'd almost say that killing the play too early can have as much a negative effect on safety as not killing the play. You kill a play that is still apparently live, and you run the risk of having half of the players think it's live, and the rest not paying attention - this could cause further injury as well.

There are cases of injury where I would kill the ball. This one is not even close to being one of them.

I can care less what hell poll you guys are taking here and even care less than that, what side I'm on. I will repeat what I said before though, if a player's injury, (IN MY OPINION), is serious enough to kill the play, I WILL DO IT EVERY TIME.

Rut, if thats what you did and felt it was right for you then it was the right call. A cather that takes a ball to the throat could, or could not be a serious injury. And if there are officials out there that treat the game as being more important than the health of the players, especially at the HS level, then your not worth the weight of your ball bags.

I still consider this a " game " of baseball and not a real life n death serious circumstance. It's a game. If someone gets hurt, stop play, make sure they are OK, and continue to play the " game ". If my life depended on continuing action or face death, I would continue play until all action ceased.
I reiterate - it is a " game " of baseball. Where are we placing priorities of importance? Whether some guys gets an extra base or whether a young athlete is hurt ( maybe seriously - who am I to judge that ? ) leaves me little choice in my decision. Stop play.
Just my humble opinion.

My,
 

Aren't some of us being overly dramatic.

I would not kill the play.

I have never seen a play where a few seconds made any difference in the extent of an injury. I saw the worst case of ball off the bat to the pitcher's head this Spring in a HS scrimmage game. Runner on 1B at the time. The new umpires working this game let play continue until the 1b man picked up the ball and runner seeing this stopped at 2B. 3-4 seconds, tops. This guy was not unconscious and I don't understand how. The delay before he could be helped off the field was about 10 minutes. I thought the new umps did a good job.

And DG
 

Most of us would agree with you.

No liability issues here.

Maybe HTBT, but I'm also one who would not have killed the play as described.

Had a sitch similar to DG's in a Legion game last summer: F1 poleaxed by a shot just above his rt. eye & toward the ear; the ball fell about where you'd stand in the C position.
Fielders standing around shocked, concerned about F1; R1 stopped at 2d. Both umps verbalized [not shouting, but loud enough]: "Pick up the ball!"
As soon as the ball was under D control, THEN we called Time. Coaches already on the way out, play killed well before they reached the foul line: NO delay in getting help for the injured player - but also no premature killing of the play, either.

I feel this play would be a bit different. I think a shot to the throat would necessitate an immediate kill of the play. What if the ball collapsed something in his throat and he was choking? THEN the extra seconds are important.

JMHO on that. I personally would error on the side of safety if i wasn't sure. If he was hit anywhere else, i don't think i would kill it.... except maybe the eye (like when my buddy hit a line drive back to the pitcher and the pitcher actually lost an eyeball. like it came out of the socket. true story, but that's another day, another discussion).

Your opinion is duly noted. What justifies the insult ("not worth the weight of your ball bags") to those who see the issue differently?

He is walking toward the dugout, for whatever help might be there. If a few seconds makes a difference there will not be enough help in the dugout for him. I might call time if I saw somebody get spiked and a geyser of blood was spurting out. But then again playing action is probably over already.

I had one last week, a runner is sliding into 3B on a close play lost his helmet, and the ball got away. So now he jumps up and heads for home, 3B man retrieves the ball and is throwing home for another close play, and I am thinking "this sum***** is going to get hit in the head". What would you do?

If a player gets hit in the throat and collapses his airway, stopping play and getting him help 10 seconds earlier is not going to matter. This is a situation that requires trained medical personel and unless they're sitting outside the gate, those extra 10 seconds won't help.

The same goes for lost eyeballs, missing teeth, punctured lungs, or any other horror story you can dream up. Most of these medical emergencies require medical personel that simply aren't present. The 10 seconds it takes for you to kill the play is only a small portion of the 10 minutes it's going to take for the ambulance to arrive.

We can make up "what if's" all day long if you'd like, but what's the point?

Again, I think an appropriate guideline to use is, "would I grant time if asked?" If you would, it's probably an acceptable time to kill the play.

wow...this one is getting........
 

Kinda heavy on the safety vs. the rules. I am assuming(probabaly should not) that this is a game with players that shave. Play was a pitch tagged F2 in the throat, ball got away(at least you would think). I've worked games of 12 year olds where the F1 is on his horse to the dish on a wild pitch/passed ball/e on F2, or in this case a bad bounce that KO's his battery mate. Kid on first stands still, cuz dumb-a$$ 3bc has his head up his, 1bc is probabaly scratching his. F2 is hurting(can't blame him) and walks off field(so to speak).....sorry guys, there is 9 of you out there, SOMEBODY better have the brains to control that ball and runner(s).I have had F2's that have been smoked protecting me and thier game with thier body, part of the job, they know that(or should). Sounds really like Rut had a stoopid 3bc/skippy and got away with what he could, great....as long as he does not get flak, all is well........till a real ump comes along and pays the price.

If I get clocked in the nads on a wild pitch, ball goes sailing to the backstop 50 feet away, do I get to stop play cuz my left nut is sitting in my intestines??? Yeah, right. Been there, done that................

Re: wow...this one is getting........
 

Chris, my man! Where the hell you been? I'll be in Monterey in about a week. Are we ever going to get together?

Re: Re: wow...this one is getting........
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garth, tiss along story........gimme an email @ [email protected]

Re: Re: Re: wow...this one is getting........
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~


BTW your sig has a "fyc"


Love it!!!!!!!

Agreed. And I'll add that there's a difference between "stopping play" and "getting help". That is, I won't penalize the coach / trainer / mom from coming onto the field (in the more serious cases) as long as they don't interfere with the play that's ongoing. In most cases, by the time the "help" gets into a position wherer there *could* be interference, the play has stopped onit's own anyway.

I've forgotten the original play, but it seems to me that it's possible that play had stopped (i seem to recall some statement like, "the ball was lying at F2's feet and R1 was not advancing"). In that case, I think it's okay to call time. If my recolection is not correct, then I'd leave the play alive.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bob jenkins

Quote:

I've forgotten the original play, but it seems to me that it's possible that play had stopped (i seem to recall some statement like, "the ball was lying at F2's feet and R1 was not advancing"). In that case, I think it's okay to call time. If my recolection is not correct, then I'd leave the play alive.

From the original post:

"Then the runner starts to run to second base after a couple of seconds, but at the same time I kill the play."

There may have been a small window of opportunity to call time before R1 took off, but it appears time was called while a runner was advancing. The original poster never stated what he did with R1 - send him back or give him 2B.

How about this play?
 

All;

We have seen how you all line up regarding a play when someone is hurt but is not in the way of continuing action. Most of us have agreed that 10 seconds of delaying treatment is not going to matter a hill of beans one way or another. However, how would you handle the following: (It happened to me once. It was a game involving players over 18.)

R2, R3, 0 outs and the infield is in. Ground ball to short who throws home to get R3. There was a collision with no malicious contact and the catcher falls in a heap on top of home plate with a bone sticking out of his leg and the ball rolling towards the backstop. R2 has rounded third and there is going to be a close play at the plate and the catcher is in the vicinity of it with a blood spurting artery.

Your call?!

BTW, this is the bottom of the 8th inning, R3 was the tying run and R2 is the go ahead run.

Peter

[Edited by His High Holiness on May 18th, 2005 at 10:54 AM]

wow, it would seem that F2 could sustain further injury if you allow R2 to slide/step on home plate. Did F1 retrieve ball from backstop??

I might be in the minority, but I don't think I can allow R2 to come sliding into F2 as he is bleeding all over the plate.

Re: How about this play?
 

Amateur ball? Two calls. 9.01 (c) and 911.

Time! And while the dust is settling R2 is going back to third. Hopefully his coach chooses to remain in the game, but if he doesn't , so be it.

HHH has posted a play that I will kill. There is a very real and obvious chance for significant further injury if I don't kill it.

But I differ from the last poster, in that if F1 is no where near the ball, R2 is coming home and R3 is going to third.

How can you do that? R3 (the runner at third) would have scored before R2 (the runner from second). As Desi would say: "You got some 'splaining to do."

Crap.

Misread the post, and had softball terminology in my head from reading some of their posts.

I would score R2 if I thought it likely that he would score on the loose ball. Kill the play for safety reasons, but don't penalize either team (in this case, the offense).

Well,
 

I would also kill this play and return R2.

Only in professional baseball would the play be allowed to go on.

Of course that is just my opinion.

Actually been busy at work today.

My insult was aimed to those that so non-chalantly disregard the importance of a serious injury, to the importance of letting the play finish.

I did not indentify anyone, but several have stated that a couple of seconds here or there, just wasn't that important. Important to whom , them.

I have seen situations where seconds were important. Skate to the throat, batter somehow turns his leg in the box to the point the the lower leg breaks and protudes through the skin. Play was killed immediately. No concern of what was happening in the game. On the other hand there were times, as stated previously, where play was allowed to continue.

I realize, a good official has to ride the fine line of being overly arrogant, confident and in control, yet approachable and sometimes even personable. We are also open to critizism for everything we do while officiating contests. But to me, it shows unjustified arrogance, and a lack of respect, to the players and families, when this is allowed to happen.

Your right this is my opinion and if it comes across as an insult to some, well then, mabey I'm just being overly-arrogant, what can I say.

F1 did indeed retrieve the ball about 15 feet from home plate. F5 was coming in to cover home and it was going to be a wacker.

I moved up the third base line and screamed "Time" as I blocked R2's advance. R2 could not see the injury and tried to run around me but I lowered my shoulder and stepped in front of him. He slowed down and we collided harmlessly.

It took 45 minutes for the ambulance to get there and get the guy loaded for transport. By this time, curfew had expired and we could not continue the game. After consulting with my partner, we decided that that it was too close to call as to whether R2 would have scored successfully. I wrote that up in a report to the league and I believe that the president opted for a delayed ruling until the end of the season. It was not important in the final standings so I think that the game was called a tie.

Peter

I've had two
 

Many years ago in Tx we had a pro prospect F1 who was hit in the face by a line drive. Bases loaded but we killed it immediately.

From what I understand he never pitched again because of the injury and etc.,

Then last night I have a throw from F6 to F2 that takes a horrible hop and hits him in the nose. Blood is everywhere. I have runners on 2nd and 3rd but we kill the play.

I'm not going to let play continue with these type of injuries.

Thanks
David

Bout 6 years ago, working the sacks for a 9-10 sectional championship game, comebacker smokes the F1 right in the face. Now he's rolling and screaming, F2 gets ball and actually nails BR at first. I was working the oh so glorified 3rd base in a 3 man, wanted to help this kid so bad, but.......we let play end , killed it, kid actually got up, shook it off and resumed, scary.....but as far as PONY goes, we did the right thing....and were told so by the field directers from PONY.

I work football also, kids get hurt all the time. When working the Umpire position, you hear the screams from the pile and have play go on, you DO NOT KILL IT.

Re: How about this play?
 

How is there going to be a close play when SS threw the ball, it's now rolling to the backstop 50 feet away and the catcher is on the ground at the plate. And as I said before "I might call time if I saw somebody get spiked and a geyser of blood was spurting out." I am not going to let R2 slide into this catcher. But the original sitch was quite different.

This is actually pretty simple people. Fed rule 5-2-1-d: Time will be called when an umpire or player is incapacitated, except that if injury occurs during a live ball, time shall not be called until no further advance or putout is possible. EXCEPTION: If there is a medical emergency or if, in the umpire's judgement, further play could jeopardize the injured players safety, Time shall be called.

In Rut's original case, he saw the catcher hurt, the runner was not going anywhere so calling time is the proper thing. In HHH case, the catcher is laying on the ground at home, obviously severly hurt and a runner heading straight for him. Calling time and sending the runner back to 3rd is that exact thing to do.

In Rut's case, I find it funny the coach had no issue until the following play when he realized he could have scored if his runner had been allowed to go to 2nd or 3rd at the expense of the injured player. If the following batter had flown out or walked there probably would not have been a word said about it.

OBR must say something similiar as that is how Barroa got the inside the park HR at KC the other day.

In the inciting play in this thread, R1 was advancing to 2B when the umpire called time.

OBR is similar to the first statement in the FED rule you cited; however, there is no exception similar to the FED exception.

<i> Originally posted by JRutledge

The ball completely stops right in front of the catcher and R1 does not move at all. The catcher after a second or two gets up and starts walking to the bench area. The catcher is obviously hurt, but I could not tell how much. Then the runner starts to run to second base after a couple of seconds, but at the same time I kill the play. </i>

This thread is similar in nature to the thread we had concerning mechanics on a dropped third strike less than 2 outs and first base occupied. Should we signal and say batter's out or say nothing because the partcipants should know the rule.

In that thread there were varied opinions and no right or wrong answer.

This thread is the similar in nature. There is no real right or wrong answer.

As to what I would do - it depends.

Example; B1 hits a rocket that hits F1 in the head area and he goes down immediately and doesn't move. In that case, instictively I would probably call TIME immediately without even realizing it. it would be a simultaneous reaction.

Other examples it would depend.

In summary there is no clear-cut answer but varied opinions on the subject matter.

Pete Booth

Let me say something here.
 

This has been a wonderful discussion. I have learned a lot by reading everyone's reply whether I agree with it or not.

I also want to make it clear that before this happened to me I was a hard line "let the play continue" guy. I could not ever see a reason to have a different opinion. When this happened and the way it happened, I found myself having to really think about it. I do not feel I just did the right thing, I just realized that there was a possibility for something to take place that I would have never seen coming.

I would also like to give some background on the parties involved. The head coach is also a 25 year veteran that is in a couple of hall of fames as a baseball coach. He is also a long time basketball official who I know a little through basketball, but not very well. This coach can be very intimidating one umpires if you do not know him or do not have the experience. He was not at all being a jerk, he was just making a case that I might have not done the proper thing. He even used a basketball reference to make his case. The discussion was not contentious or heated in any way. It was just a calm discussion where we both walked away not agreeing on the situation. The coach even after the game came up to us and talked about it (his bus was right next to our cars). We walked away from all of this with good feelings.

I just wanted different opinions to shape what I might do the next time. I probably would not be so quick next time to kill the play, but I will cross the bridge when I get to it. I always say that you can learn something new everyday when you open your mind and this was something I never thought about, not it has become a bigger factor.

I would like to thank everyone for a great discussion. This is what this site should always be.

Peace

Well,
 

I am medically trained.

Bone sticking out a leg is a serious situation for the one with the broken leg. It is also a serious situation for anyone that gets in close proximity - like an advancing runner. Blood borne pathogens - FED has a definite concern about blood. The bone was sharp enough to stick out of F2's leg so it is surely sharp enough to stick into the advancing runner or the defender that comes to cover the play. Dirt in the open wound will surely not help the injured player either.

I think we all agree this is a surely STOP IT RIGHT THERE situation. Protect the catcher and protect the other players.

But let me add a bit of information, medical information. Yes, people can die from such a leg injury ... or possibly from ensuing infection due to contamination of the wound. But this is not an immediately life threatening situation for the catcher - he can continue to bleed for a while (perhaps several minutes depending upon the severity) and live through it. But we've all agreed, this is one we would kill immediately. And to me, it felt like most would do this for the catcher's protection.

The other injury (possibly a completely crushed/collapsed windpipe) could be a much more serious injury with immediate, not delayed, repercussions. In the same amount of time that the broken leg is bleeding, the crushed windpipe kid could die. If the injury was a complete occlusion due to crushing of the windpipe, this kid will likely collapse in close to a minute and be brain dead 3 minutes later. The other catcher is still bleeding.

I would immediately want to know whether this kid is breathing or not. At the first hesitation of R1, I probably would have killed the play and immediately went to the injured player for evaluation.

An adult aged player that stops in the middle of action (doesn't pick up the ball and doesn't throw it to 2nd or F1) is likely stunned and probably very seriously hurt. A younger player who doesn't continue playing, may or may not be seriously hurt - without an evaluation, I don't know yet.

I would not belittle the judgement to kill the play if I had not ensured the injury was not serious. Simply, "ARE YOU OKAY." If he answers, he's got an airway and is going to live. If he can't answer, we're in an extremely serious situation and I could care less what the rest of the world does at that moment - I'm going to do my best to save this kid. R1 can run around the bases 6 times if he wants - we'll figure it out later.

The scenario as originally posed does not have enough information for me.

Yeah I agree he was advancing when time was actually said but I would have to say that the decision to call time was made when the runner was still standing and then he went as time was being called. Recon it may only be a second difference but as far as I am concerned, time was out, just needed to be said verbally. Part of this may be my football training of the play kills the play, not the whistle so if I look up and the runner is not going anywhere, time is out, now let everyone else know that it is. Think of it in a foul ball situation. It is foul and dead before it is actually called. I realize that is streaching it a bit but hopefully you'll see my point.

Re: Well,
 

Oh, I see. Just like I said. Serious injury, kill ball, but not in pro ball.

Nope,
 

It is a totally different played under totally different circumstances.

But this might show Tim H. That I knew the rule back last year during this conversation.

Tee

Put me in the "it all depends" column.

If the catcher takes a breath, play on. If not, kill it, and deal it.

But that's just me, sitting a keyboard. Definitely HTBT.

Neck shots are spooky. My son took a foul ball off his neck in an 18u game. He stood up and proceeded to take off all his catchers gear, and placed it all right on the plate. He walked back to the dugout, and I asked if he was all right. His only reply was "I'm done". Yes, I did have him checked out, and he was fine. Spooky though.

Who's the archeologist?

At least attempt to call these fossils your own.

May...MAY?!?!

It must have been dug up for scientific research of some sort.

Glad to hear he was ok,Kyle. Did ya'll
go for popsicles afterward?

No popcicles...
 

Slurpees and beef jerky! (the kids choice)

And this ended his catching career. He's still a good PU though.

Not to beat a dead horse, but my take on Rut's sitch is you can never error on the side of safety. Not being an EMT or medically trained much beyond advanced first aid, I don't want to have to answer to anyone about why I let further injury occur to a player. I'll place runners, take the protest, and sleep that night just fine.

I had this happen to me, F1 takes a screamer off the bat that hits him dead square in the forehead. He does a 360 and falls flat on his face, ON TOP OF THE BALL. Does anyone here contend the play should remain live in this situation?
F2 laying in a heap at the plate, hurt/unconcious, following runners bearing down. You don't kill the play?

Bob

[Edited by RPatrino on Jan 21st, 2006 at 10:40 AM]

Bob,

If you are working an American Legion Game or above you won't kill either of those plays. Yes, it is horrific and gut instinct demands that we protect the player. However, we've witnessed dozens of highlight reel plays showng athletes knocked loopy or out cold. The play continues for those few seconds until someone picks up the ball and holds it long enough for the umpire to call 'Time'.

In professional rules ball, even if the play was maliciously intended, 'Time' is not called. If you're examples were on a high school field, then you have every right to kill the play if the injury is serious or life threatening.

On the other side of the coin, I was working the infield with a runner on second and third (two man mechanics). I had cheated in because I knew the pitcher liked to pick guys off of third and had a great move. The batter hit a BB that took aim at my right quadriceps. Sure enough it caught me flush while I was in mid pirouette and I landed facing the centerfielder. My hands went up while I was on the ground. I put the batter on first and kept the other runners in place. The offensive coach went nuts as I was still trying to get to my feet. He said that just because I'm injured, I can't kill the play. I would have laughed had it not been for a bruise the size of Montana forming on an old man's thigh. I explained that no infielder could have played on it because of my 'interference'. He started *****ing that I cost his team a run or two and I grimaced that I had no intention of stopping that shot with my body, but things happen. His team wound up losing by a run and he still blames my big thigh for being n the way. So, here's another sitch, the umpire get's injured (collision with player, mask in the face, errant throw, etc). Do you kill the play?

[Edited by WhatWuzThatBlue on Jan 21st, 2006 at 06:21 PM]