The Pitcher is Wild

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
It is not a sports official's job to tell a coach that his/her pitcher is not cutting the mustard and that you want the pitcher replaced.

Furthermore, this is not a safety issue as some people in this thread have put forward. I am sure that there are many officials reading my post and thinking that I am doing a flip-flop on a safety issue but I am being consistent with my beliefs. The rules of the sport define the safety issues and a pitcher who does not have good control is not one of them. And the thing you should absolutely not do is what IRISHMAFIA has suggested. The girl is wild, let it alone, her coach will deal with it in his/her own way.

After all, we do not take kindly to a coach telling us that we are not doing a very good job, so I would not suggest telling a coach that his/her pitcher is not doing a very good job either.

Obviously, I completely disagree. It IS a safety issue if it is apparent the batters are in danger of being hit by a pitcher which just doesn't have it that game.

In the scenario offered, the coach made it clear that he wasn't concerned about the control and wasn't going to remove the pitcher. My concern isn't the coach's feelings, but the batters. I'm also not talking about 1 or 2 hit batters. I'm talking about more than a half-dozen in a few inning and it being beyond doubt that the pitcher has a problem.

As a 12 yo is being loaded into an ambulance with a broken ankle, arm, torn-up knee after being the 10th batter hit by a pitcher, I would like you to turn to the parents and tell them that is wasn't your issue. I'm not talking about changing or making up rules, but strictly working within the wording of the book. Just because I have $5,000,000 liability insurance doesn't mean I want to test my coverage.

ASA made the "injury above rules" statement when they permitted umpires to stop play and award bases due to an injured player. I don't necessarily care for it, but it places the onus on the umpire to be an authoritive figure on the field when it comes to a player's well being. Telling a jury that you didn't do anything because it isn't covered in a rule book probably will not get you off the hook. If asked for a rule book reference, I would undoubtedly cite 10.1.

Mr. Greene can probably jump in on how it would wash in a courtroom, but to be honest, I don't put that much faith on however many individuals are in the box accepting the "game" over what they would perceive as a common sense move.

JMHO,