batting out of order

[largeone59]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Mostly correct... possibly completely correct.

In B... We really have two separate violations now.

If the manager comes out, and points at B4 on first base, saying that he shouldn't have batted, I believe our answer is just "sorry, coach, once a pitch has been thrown, he (pointing at B4) has been legitimized."

If he says ANYTHING about the current batter, either before or after this comment, we must correct that BOO as well.

But if he says nothing about B3 at all, I don't believe we have either the requirement or the right to fix that eventual BOO. I know there are words in the book regarding doing what we can to prevent protestable situations, but I don't believe this falls in there. I'm sure there are those who might legitimately feel that sending B3 back to the dugout in favor of B5 is preventative umpiring, but I don't think I'm one of those umpires. To my mind, if the rulesmakers wanted umpires to prevent BOO, we would be required to do so without it being brought to our attention. Since we don't do it without appeal, and technically this appeal was (or could have been) about B4 only, I'm not sure it would be appropriate to address it yet.

I think we should just correct the whole mess when it's brought to our attention. JMHO