Shortstop throws warmup pitch

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by mbyron

First, if the ball is not dead in OBR, why do umpires start each half inning with "Play!"?

Second, no matter who's goofing around on the mound the "pitcher" gets 60-90 seconds to warm up.

Here goes another 10-page argument thread like the donnybrook we had 5 years ago.

Not all (not even many that I've seen at every level) umpires start each half inning with "Play!" As stated by many of us back then, many of us feel that the ball is not dead between innings, because nothing happened to cause the ball to become dead. These same umpires, myself among them, do not believe in pointing the ball into play every inning. The very first pitch of the game, and then when putting it back in play after the ball has become dead, are the times when I point a ball back in play. Unless I specifically indicate to the pitcher to not pitch for some reason, I don't put it in play at the start of every half inning.