Out of line?
 

I had this situation a while back in a kiddieball game with the good old no leadoff rule.

1st batter gets hit, appears okay, walks down to first. Second batter reaches safely, moving the batter who was hit to 2nd. Bench coach exits bench area and asks for time so I grant it. He asks if he can talk to his R2. I allow him to, believing that he is concerned about the health of his runner after he was hit.

I stand by the first base foul line and watch as he speaks to his runner. I can clearly tell that he is not making sure he is okay after being hit. As the coach comes back I say to him "what was that about?" in a neutral tone. He says to me "I was instructing him on not leading off. Sorry about that,".

Between innings my base partner told me I had no business asking him what that was about and that I was lucky this coach didn't tell me to get lost. According to the base umpire he had every right to speak to his runner because I allowed him to in the first place. I guess I shouldn't have assumed his reason for going out there was to check for a possible leg injury or something.

Was I way out of line in asking him "what was that about?" and what would have been a way to handle this situation differently?

99% of the time I know whether or not its for injury or not already, so there is no reason to worry about it. And, at any decent level of baseball, if there is any question to begin with it it is for injury and its not obvious (i.e. a pitcher with a hurt arm perhaps), the coach will KNOW that he should let you KNOW so he doesn't get charged.

If it is kiddie-ball, perhaps simply asking back after coach asks for time, "What for?" genuinely will give you an answer. But you should very rarely need one. What made you think that R2 was hurt? If he went to first and continued, he was alright. Was he showing signs of being hurt? Sounds like a no.

And, if you thought he was going for injury, you should go with him to make sure that is indeed what it is about (don't be a Nazi umpire here, let the coach tell the kid things that he could yell across the diamond anyway like outs or encouragement while he is checking him).

As for your OP: I would not have said anything to the coach at all. Grant the time, let him go, charge him (if you're playing under a rule set that limits Offensive confrences).

Canada, I'm curious why you wanted to know.

Unless you have a local rule limiting the scope of the conference, you are misapplying the rule. You are using the same rule as for an injury trip to the mound. The coach can go say anything he wants to his runner.

You want to save the coach a charged trip when talking to his injured pitcher, so if it's for injury, he has to tell you he's checking on his pitcher. You then accompany the coach to the mound and listen to the conversation, making sure no strategy is being discussed, and that they are only addressing the injury and nothing else. If they start talking strategy, tell them to stop or you will charge a trip to the mound.

This same application is not to be used for offensive conferences, which can be about any subject, as can regular defensive conferences.

canada
 

If the reason for his visit isn't as obvious as Jimmy Durante's nose, then ask what he needs time for BEFORE you grant it.

Asking after the fact acknowledges you've lost control of this sitch and makes you appear inexperienced at best.

IMO

If you feel the need to ask the coach, a better question is, "Is he (the runner) okay?"

That said, I agree with the others -- if there's a restriction on vistis, you should go with the coach to be sure he's discussing an injury. Otherwise, myob.

Its an ankle-biter game? Of course you can ask. No biggie. At that level, its instructional for all involved. And probably the coach wouldnt know whether it was your business or not why you were asking.
At higher levels of course you wouldnt ask, because you would know better not to, or would have handled it different from the start, as the others have suggested here.
Or, if you did ask, the coach would know to tell you to keep your nose out of his 'yit

If that last thing happened and they were limited to one offensive conference, he'd get charged it, for certain.

If they had already used the conference, I'd go out just as I would for a pitcher injury.

But if there isn't such a rule or if it's applied in a lax manner, I'd just stay out of it. Why would I care what they were talking about?

nothing in kiddie ball should be that big of a deal

Thanks for the responses. There is no rule about offensive conferences. I was annoyed at the holdup because it was an unnecessary delay. I assumed the conference for an injury, and we all know what kinds of trouble assuming can lead to.

To answer another poster's question, I posted it to get feedback on my handling of this situation.

i'm not sure how a one time conference during a kiddie ball game is the lone "x" factor in extending your game...now if he's doing that every inning, that might be different.

Ding ding ding ... we have a winner

Then come with me next season and do a 12 y. o. sectional game with about 500 people there. To THEM, it's a big deal.:D

I don't know if small ball has different rules but I believe the offense has one visit per inning.
I don't care what they talk about unless the manager is asking for a injury visit and doesn't want to lose his one per inning. In that case I will tag along behind and listen to the conversation.


As for canadaump asking whats that about, I probably wouldn't ask that but I could care less if someone else does. If that is the worst thing that happens all day, I would be going home a happy camper.