Visit by a player-coach/manager

[Largo20]

I had the following situation last Saturday and like to hear some opinions on this case.
I refer to the N.A.P.B.L. Umpire Manual since we play under the OBR.

6.10 Trips to the Mound by Player-Manager
While playing, any visit to the mound by a player-managerwill be considered a trip.
The umpire shall notify the player-manager and the opposing manager each time a trip is charged.

6.11 Trips to the Mound by Player-Coach
While playing, a player-coach will be treated as a player until he is considered to have abused the privilege. If, in the judgement of the umpire, the privilege is abused, the player-coach and his manager will be advised that any future visits to the mound will be charged as trips.

Both definitions are not hard to understand but how do you handle a player-coach who catches? Do you allow him to visit his pitcher as often as he likes to since he is the catcher?

I learnt that in baseball it is always about fair and unfair, advantage and disadvantage.
To me it is not fair if a coach can go to his pitcher as often as he desires because he is the catcher while on the other hand the other coach only has one free trip per inning.

Kindly clarify

[Whowefoolin]

How many times does a catcher visit his pitcher in an inning? Maybe once or twice. Considering the circumstances. Is the pitcher wild (9 balls in a row?). Is bases loaded with winning run on deck?

Now if the catcher/coach is going out more than this, yes refrain him from it and tell him why.

I would not say anything or notice until the other team starts up. And I am sure they do not know or care unless it gets ridiculous. Then even if it is a normal catcher, I would sustain his visits!!

[Bfair]

For adult baseball (where the player-manager situation is likely), I use my judgment to monitor only those visits I feel may include managerial duties. In such cases, I advise whether the visit is considered a trip.

I'd never enforce the trip rule requiring a pitcher to leave if complained about afterward by the opponent. I'd let them protest the game if they didn't like my decision. I wouldn't expect our adult league to accept the NAPBL's limitation. IMO, it's not written for that type amateur league where the situation frequently arises. If the protest was upheld, that's the league's choice. As for me, I'll apply CSFP on the field for this situation.

This has already been discussed with the league commissioner who also uses CSFP. We've not specifically addressed it in league rules as doing so would likely highlight the issue to teams, thus causing more headaches than it's worth. There has not been a single issue in our league regarding this in the past 11 years.



Just my opinion,

Freix