Problem player
 

A certain slow pitch player is being quite irritating.

Every time this guy Jimmy Luny comes to bat he says, "Time please, sir," and gathers a couple of handfuls of dirt with which to make a neat little pile in the outside rear corner of the batter's box. He also uses his bat to draw a smiley face out in front of the plate. Further, on the first pitch of almost every at bat, he runs several steps toward the pitcher and feigns taking a mighty swing. He knows better than to make contact, but the defense, especially the pitcher, is always outraged and complains to me.

Luny plays third base, too. And before every inning starts he uses his foot to skim off the layer of surface dirt where a runner coming in to 3B would slide. He doesn't dig a hole or make a pile; he just pushes the dirt around.

The other teams complain, but I've looked all through the book and can't find any rules against anything this guy is doing.

Jimmy Luny is also a "ball" freak. You hear him talking about some tournament he played in over the past weekend, and his center of interest is always the quality of the balls. I once heard somebody ask Luny whether he'd be interested in playing in some tournament, and the first question came back, "What kind of ball are they using?" This carries over into the games I umpire, because Luny seems to be able to discern, merely from listening, when a game ball has lost its zip. So from the on-deck circle he's frequently telling me—politely—that the ball we're using is worn out and that I should get a better ball in the game.

When his team is at bat, you can hear Luny announcing the height of the pitches to his teammates: "Ten-six," "Eleven-two," "Oops. Twelve-four!"

Luny is an excellent player, though. And he's also a generally affable guy who doesn't argue calls.

I wish his company would transfer him, though.

If Mr. Luny is so intelligent, he should know that ASA has a ball rotation procedure and as soon as the ball leaves play, you will be more than happy to replace it. Then remind him that HIS pitcher can request a different ball at the top of the next half inning :)

BTW, I would assume that every first pitch is a strike when he runs out of the box.

1) I would give batter a little "time" to move dirt around, but the smiley face (or whatever) is too much. I would warn him that it wont happen next time, and tell the pitcher to pitch when I start play(if he's drawing when the ball's coming in- that should stop that activity real quick!)..And Yes! a strike call everytime when he runs forward....

2)Abel at 3rd- no prob at all, not even an issue to deal with...

3)Unless his calling out pitch heights really bothers you, I'd ignore it. If not then mention to him that his 12'4" could be considered argueing balls/strikes to have him stop. ME?- I'd ignore...

I don't do SP and not sure what the limit is but I'm assuming it's 12'. If so, I'd listen for those 12'4"s and call it a strike every time!

"Sure. I've got time while you get in the box."

When the landscaping starts, "Batter-up."