Game is a BLOW-OUT

[BuggBob]

Game last night Visitors are ahead 27-0 after 3 innings, both very friendly teams so I open the strike zone UP! As the visitor batter comes to the plate I tell him, "Its pretty much going to be a strike." The pitched ball lands about six inches in front of the plate. "Strike." They only scored five runs that half inning. When the home team got back in their dugout one of the players joked, "You got to love that eleventh guy." Home team bats with a normal strike zone and scores three, which was three more than they have scored in their last two games combined. Visitors are happy, home team is happy. Game ends both sides thank me for making the game fun.

I think a big part of umpiring is the ability to read the teams. Had this been a contest between two competitive teams where one was having the game of a lifetime and the other a very bad night, there is no way I could have gotten away with that. But this was a game between two Church league teams that are all good friends.

So the question is what do you guys do when the game is clearly over but you still have game time and have not yet reached a run rule point?

Bugg

[NCASAUmp]

If a game is a total blow-out (33-0, etc.), I might let close plays get a little closer. Strike zone might gain a couple of inches, but nothing too disproportionate.

[NCASAUmp]

I actually had a co-wreck (spelling is intentional) game where the home team was down 33-1 after only two innings, but 40 minutes into the game. When it was the home team's turn at bat, the only decent female hitter on the team struck out swinging at the first 3 pitches. Unfortunately, the team is a mix of competitive players and recreational players, which is never a good combination.

So the female goes back to the dugout, and I start to brush off the plate between batters. All of a sudden, I hear a flurry of profanity coming from the home team dugout... "F you, mother F... You son of a..." She's hitting all the bases. Apparently, one of her teammates accused her of striking out intentionally (which she probably did, as she was their best hitter, for what's that worth), and that's why they were losing.

Anyway, so she grabs her bat, and I'm thinking that she's going to haul off and whack him, when I see her slam the bat into the bat bag and stomp off, boyfriend/husband following her 20 feet behind to the car.

Later, I found out the guy she cussed out was her boss. That team never came back to finish the season.

Yikes!

[mcrowder]

Unless it's an extremely casual league, I think you open yourself up to a can of worms if you start changing things disproportionately or ridiculously (i.e. the strike that bounced in front of the plate). If you have to widen it a ballwidth for one team, widen it for both. And, it can also be perceived as an insult to the losing team - LESS sportsmanlike rather than what you're trying to accomplish here (Blue thinks we suck so bad he's giving us strikes when they bounce in there ... what an @$$).

Extremely Wreck league? Yeah - perhaps. But be careful doing this at anything resembling a competitive situation, and if you do ANYTHING, do it both ways.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

Unless it's an extremely casual league, I think you open yourself up to a can of worms if you start changing things disproportionately or ridiculously (i.e. the strike that bounced in front of the plate). If you have to widen it a ballwidth for one team, widen it for both. And, it can also be perceived as an insult to the losing team - LESS sportsmanlike rather than what you're trying to accomplish here (Blue thinks we suck so bad he's giving us strikes when they bounce in there ... what an @$$).

Extremely Wreck league? Yeah - perhaps. But be careful doing this at anything resembling a competitive situation, and if you do ANYTHING, do it both ways.

Mike's right. Last time I played (about 4 years ago), our team was horrible. We went 1-13, and the one win was due to forfeit. Same case as the team I mentioned above - half rec, half competitive. Someone found out that I was an umpire, so I was made captain. *groan*

I had to miss one game (no, I wasn't tossed!), but heard the reports later that the umpire had made those aforementioned adjustments. When he called a strike on the opposing team that was an obvious ball, the batter gave him a confused look. The ump had the audacity to say, "well, under these conditions, it's a strike."

My next phone call was to the league organizer, and he got the proper chewing out.

[IamMatt]

This coach's opinion is don't do it--I don't think it is part of the job description.

If the winning coach wants to let up, that is up to him.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by BuggBob

The pitched ball lands about six inches in front of the plate. "Strike."

Assuming SP here, how can you have a strike on a dead ball?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Skahtboi

Assuming SP here, how can you have a strike on a dead ball?

Didn't you see the batter swing?

[BuggBob]

Originally Posted by Skahtboi

Assuming SP here, how can you have a strike on a dead ball?

USSSA rules. Since they can hit the ball on the bounce, it must be live at that point.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by BuggBob

USSSA rules. Since they can hit the ball on the bounce, it must be live at that point.

From last year's USSSA SP rulebook, (don't have a new one as I don't work SP):

"A ball is called by the umpire on each pitch not swung at by the batter if:

A. The pitched ball does not enter the strike zone.
B. The ball strikes the ground before passing completely over the plate or any part of the plate.

Effect: The pitched ball is dead after each ball, strike, or illegal pitcher action and must be returned immediately to the pitcher(unless an out occurs.)"