Little league batters box protocol

[Grandad]

Last week I was at a twelve year old tournament game. Bottom of the fifth and the right handed batter has faced two pitches. He stands with his right toe inside the back corner of the box and his left foot two feet outside the box taking the sign from the third base coach. His bat is in his left hand with the barrel end on the ground outside the box. The pitcher ten feet from the rubber runs to the rubber and throws a quick pitch before the batter can respond. The Ump calls a strike and the stands erupt. The patch ump states that there is a rule to keep the game moving along without delays that the batter must call time out. After this the game deteriorated and the quick pitch became the new law of the land. I thought the batter had to have both feet in the box and be set before the pitch could be delivered. The safety of a batter looking away while a pitcher throws has to be more important than saving a few extra minutes for the ground crew between games. Is there a rule I am unaware of?

[Dave Hensley]

Your understanding is correct. The umpire in the game you witnessed is a moron and should be stripped of his patch, whatever that is.

[LilLeaguer]

Originally posted by Dave Hensley
Your understanding is correct. The umpire in the game you witnessed is a moron and should be stripped of his patch, whatever that is.

Assuming that the OP didn't witness a directed pitch situation, that is.

Little League players are required to have an official patch on their uniform, usually on the shoulder. A similar patch is available for umpires, and is often handed out at training sessions. In this way, it might stand in for a sort of certificate.

At tournaments in my area, the TDs usually strongly request that umpires wear the patch on the field. I can't find any requirement in the rule book, but it may be there. It's possible that some lore has grown up that the patch makes the umpires "official".

Of course, a Real Umpire(tm) wouldn't sew a LL patch onto his uniform; the other Real Umpires might laugh and call him names and never let him umpire any Real Baseball(tm) games. This leads to the rather funny pre-game ceremony of the double-sided tape and the in-game mechanic of picking your patch up and slapping it back on.

-LL

[largeone59]

We also use the term "patched" umpire in our area meaning "certified" umpire. When you pass your PIAA high school exam, the first thing you get in the mail is your official's card and a PATCH that you have to sew onto the left sleeve of your uniform. That's where the term comes from.

[TBBlue]

It is the pitcher's responsibility to allow the batter to be reasonably set in the box. You don't want to kill the ball after every pitch, and you don't want someone hurt. The younger guys that violate this rule usually haven't gotten past the shear concentration of just hitting the catcher's mitt. Therefore, they usually just don't realize the batter isn't set. Call time, inform them of their responsibility and move on.

The umpire in this situation was ignorant of the rule, and destroyed the game he was working as a result. The coach who allowed or ordered his pitcher to do what he did is simply a rec ball, rat ba***ard, wannabee the hero, I'm the manager so my kids playing, and we're winning at all costs, kind of person.

(Edited to eliminate what the rat truly was without eliminating it completely)

[Edited by TBBlue on Jul 26th, 2005 at 08:13 PM]

[Grandad]

This was a uniformed crew (4) with a sewn on shoulder patch as opposed to the older high school age kids that usually do the in house games earlier in the season. One of the parents of the pitchers team said after the game that they were caught with the same play the day before by the same crew. The unp was heard talking after the game praising the pitching team for their knowledge of the rules and their ability to use them to their advantage. These kids are little league age and use little league rules but do not wear a little league patch. Maybe go to four or five tournaments as an all star team after a twenty game in house season. They are still somewhat confused about game situations and what they are suposed to do and when. Most of the coaches are dads and their knowledge of the rulebook tecknicalities and the game is just what they remember from their old days playing. The majority of umpires we have had in the past few years have been very good and we have learned from them as well. I understand that once the batter takes his place in the box and the pitcher takes the rubber that if the batter steps out without calling time the pitch may be made and will count. and that in some circumstances an umpire may call a strike for delay of game on the batters part. Is there any time at all when a quick pitch is legal and under what circumstances?

[BigUmp56]

Grandad,

No, there is no time that a quick pitch can be ruled as a legal pitch. The rules state that is dangerous and should not be permitted. From your post, it sounds as if the PU in question was calling for a " directed pitch " although he was using piss poor judgement allowing the pitcher to get a running start.

A competent umpire would not call for a directed pitch unless the pitcher was on the rubber waiting to pitch, and delayed his delivery because the batter was not in the box.

I ask batters to do exactly what you have described in your post. I tell them that if they need to pick up a sign from the coaches box, they are to swing out of the box with one foot leaving the other foot in the box. This keeps them from simply walking out of the box at will, and from walking 3-4 steps up the line to receive their sign. This keeps the game moving along, and IMO it is good game management.

I am curious as to which organizational patch these umpires were wearing. If it was a LL patch, it does not mean much to me as to their competency. LL patches are handed out to anyone wanting to umpire in our area, and require NO formal training at all to obtain. I'm not saying they were bad because they were LL umpires, I'm just saying wearing a LL patch does not make them competent.

Tim.
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As umpires, we are the only ones in the world expected to be perfect on our first day on the job, and improve from there.

[Grandad]

So, is a directed pitch when the batter is delaying or out of the box and the umpire verbaly tells the pitcher to pitch anyway? Or is it something else?

[UmpJM]

Grandad,

I would encourage you to read the discussion linked below, especially the fourth post on the thread, authored by a gentleman named Bob Pariseau. I think it will answer your questions.

http://eteamz.active.com/baseball/bo...cfm?id=1346301

JM

[BigUmp56]

Grandad,

A pitch may be called for verbally and considered to be a
" directed pitch ". The PU does not necessarily have to call for the pitcher to pitch however.

The applicable rule for this would be rule 6.02(a) The batter shall take his position in the batters box promptly when it is his time at bat.

(b) The batter shall not leave his position in the batter's box after the pitcher comes to Set Position, or starts his windup.

PENALTY: If the pitcher pitches, the umpire SHALL call ball or strike as the case may be.

Case book:
The batter leaves the batters box at the risk of having a strike delivered and called, unless he requests the umpire to call " Time." The batter is not at liberty to step in and out of the box at will.

This would be entirely different if the batter was in the box, and the pitcher was on the rubber and started to begin his preliminary motion, and the batter stepped out of the box without time being granted, and the pitcher failed to deliver the pitch and commited a balk with runners on.

When this happens you simply have a " do-over ", and warn both players.

I know I have strayed off of your question a little, but I hope this helps you.

Tim.
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As umpires, we are the only ones in the world expected to be perfect on our first day on the job, and improve from there.

[LilLeaguer]

Originally posted by BigUmp56
Grandad,
...
(b) The batter shall not leave his position in the batter's box after the pitcher comes to Set Position, or starts his windup.

PENALTY: If the pitcher pitches, the umpire SHALL call ball or strike as the case may be.

Case book:
The batter leaves the batters box at the risk of having a strike delivered and called, unless he requests the umpire to call " Time." The batter is not at liberty to step in and out of the box at will.

In the original sitch, the batter was clearly out of the box when the pitcher stepped on the rubber. 6.02 (b) cannot apply. I was being overly kind to the umpires when I suggested that this might have been a directed pitch; Grandad may have omitted it, but it doesn't sound like the umpire gave the necessary order (or the customary warning) that 6.02 (c) requires.

Much as it pains me, it appears Smitty had the plate at this game.

-LL

[Grandad]

I supose it is possible or probable that the umpire or the coach instructed the pitcher to pitch, the way the pitcher ran to the mound and threw. But I did not hear or see any instruction, Or warning to the batter either. Up untill that time it seemed to be a normal game between two good teams. The batting team won their tournament the weekend before. Against the home sponsoring team of this tournament at another city. The winner of this game would most likely face the home team which was undefeated in the other division. The pitching team was a slightly bigger bunch from a larger city in the next county. I suspect now that the tournament director may have given instructions to speed up the play. Pitchers were to have only three warmup throws from the mound and there as no infield ball alowed. No warmup mounds or space along the field so the kids were warming up in the parking lot. The pitching team adapted readily to the new situation, probably because of their exposure to it the day before. But the hitting team ordered to get in the box in a, here it comes ready or not, situation struggled. Machine gun style huried pitching resulted. sanctioned by the ump as he made no effort to slow down the pitcher. In the huried pace the pitchers became wilder and had dificulty throwing strikes and some walks resulted. Hurried pitches to rattled unset batters. The game was tied when it began and ended with the pitching team ahead by one run. They defeated the home sponsoring team later that day. I did not post here to complain. only to try and find some clarification on the rules. You all have been very gracious to me with your very informative responses and I thank you very much. If I might sign out with a small quote from me. "If the arbiter of a childrens game can not interpret and inforce the rule book with dignity and impartiality then surely it will be dificult for him or his bretheren to derive respect from these children when they are adults" Grandad P.S I apologise for being windy, Thanks for listening.

[jicecone]

"This was a uniformed crew (4) with a sewn on shoulder patch"

Did you mean a uninformed crew?

[Grandad]

I guess both terms would be acurate.