Batter won't even come out of the dugout!!!!
 

What do you do when you have a batter that won't get in the batter's box? Heck, she won't even get out of the dugout!?!?!

I had this situation this week. NFHS JV game, visitors down 6-2 but rallying in the top of the 6th. 2 outs, bases loaded, #2 batter is next to bat. I call out "Batter", thinking she is still in the on deck circle and I have already counted to eight. I look and no one is there. I call time, go to the dugout and ask the coach for a batter. He says that she doesn't want to bat (he has already used his two substitutes). I ask him again for a batter, and he says, "She won't bat, just call her out."

I'm not making this up, it really happened.

I didn't want to demean the player or the team or the fans; it seemed to me that the players had issues with each other, and the coach. So instead of getting back into position, calling a strike on the batter for violating the ten second rule, calling "Play ball" and having the pitcher throw two more pitches (strikes, of course) to a non-existent batter, I called the girl out for not reporting to the batters box.

I couldn't find anything in the rule book about this kind of situation. I know I did not do it "by the book", but what would you have done in my plate shoes???

Asking for input and constructive criticism.

"Batter." Wait 10 seconds. "Dead ball. Strike."

"Batter." Wait 10 seconds. "Dead ball. Strike."

"Batter." Wait 10 seconds. "Dead ball. Strike."

Batter's out.

Next batter.

NFHS 7-3-1

Why not NFHS 4-3-1(b) "refuses to continue play after the game has started", or 4-3-1 (c) "delays more than one minute in resumimg play after the umpire calls "Play Ball", or 4-3-1(e) "willfully and persistently violates any one of the rules after being warned by the umpire'? What gives the player, coach, or team the option to refuse to bat? Isn't that a rule?

ASA equivalents are 4.4-C, D, and F.

NFHS rule 4-3-1 beginsIt seems in the OP we had a batter refusing to play, not a team. Using the delay rule to call the batter out and moving to the next batter seems like a better fit than a forfeit.

So, if the pitcher refuses to pitch, you would simply award a ball every 20 seconds, if the coach told you "I can't make her"? At no point would you consider this a forfeit? Is there a difference if it is a batter or the pitcher refusing to participate as required by the rules of the game?

I submit that the coach is required and responsible to have the players play the game. Not doing that isn't acceptable. The fact that all subs had been used should be his problem, not ours.

Personally, I would advise the coach that refusing to bat isn't an option; either she takes her turn as required by the rules, or be ejected for refusing to participate in accordance with the rules. Unless he thought to tell me she was injured and unable to continue, I would advise his options are to 1) get her to participate immediately, 2) provide a legal substitute for her immediately, or 3) forfeit the game being unable to produce the required 9 players to continue.

Above responses are "by the book". The forfeit is overkill, not needed, and not the spirit of that rule (that's strictly my opinion). All that is going to do is make a bad situation worse.

If you want to do the right thing for this particular situation, you did it. Call her out and move on (once again my opinion.

Yes, there is a difference, and I didn't say you couldn't forfeit the game. Just that, based on the OP, the delay rule seems a better fit.

If you want to declare a forfeit and go home, go ahead. You have a rule to back it up.

I can't speak for NFHS, but I'm not going to declare a forfeit simply because one batter (especially a young player) is too upset to take their turn to bat. I'll just call them out for failing to appear at bat.

A forfeit is pretty heavy-handed, and should always be your last resort.

I agree with you and the OP as the right thing to do.

Call 'er out, switch sides, play ball, and don't forget: only six more outs and it's Miller Time.

You could even say she's injured and take the out right there. Nothing in the book says that a injury needs to be a physical injury. This girl has bigger troubles then a softball at-bat to worry about.

I think some of you are missing the point. It isn't the player.

It is the coach's job to manage the team. Most are talking about addressing the player. It is the coach's job to have a batter in the box. It is the coach's job to control his pitcher and rest of the players.

You don't call the batter to the box, you tell the coach you need a batter. If the girl refuses to bat, it is the coach's job to get her or a substitute in there. If he refuses to do that, there is no reason for him/her to be in the dugout.

It is not the umpire's job or position, to insure the batter bats and the pitcher pitches. If the coach refuses to coach, what is the umpire to do? The coach IS the team. HS umpires know that if you toss the coach and there is not another adult associated with that school present, the game cannot continue.

I'm not looking for a forfeit and I agree that is a very drastic option. However, depending on the situation, you may not have a choice. If there are issues, what happens the next inning when another player balks at approaching the plate? Or maybe a pitcher refuses to throw to a certain batter? If the pitcher will not pitch, the rest of the team cannot play.

Not taking a particular position as every scenario can be different. Just offering food for thought.

The OP had mentioned that the coach had already used up his subs and couldn't sub the girl out. The player, for whatever reason, had tied the hands of the coach.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. If she refuses to bat at that moment, what's a coach to do? He can't force her to bat. He can boot her off the team after that game, but in those 30 or so seconds it takes to call those 3 strikes, there's nothing he can do.

In this scenario, I think things were handled appropriately.

I can see this escalating to a forfeit. Take the OP. No need for the umpire to know or care about the reason WHY the batter does not enter the batter's box.

Umpire: "Batter up"
(nothing)
Umpire: "Coach, I need a batter"
(no batter - whats left of the 10 sec expires)
Umpire: "Strike 1"
(no batter - 10 sec expires)
Umpire: "Strike 2"
(no batter - 10 sec expires)
Umpire: "Strike 3. Batter up"

Now, in the OP, I'd guess the next batter appears. If not, ...

Umpire: "Coach, I need a batter. If your team is not going to play, I will be forced to declare a forfeit."

Then whatever happens, happens. This has taken a minute or less longer than declaring the forfeit right away, and allows for the possiblity of one player having issues of some kind rather than the whole team.

I do agree with Mike that each situation is different. The delay rule called strike and the forfeit rules are tools to be used when the situation requires it.

And that is incentive.....how????

Now if you had said Sierra Nevada Pale Ale time or something along those lines, you would have had my attention. :cool:

Uh oh... here we go again.

Summit Pale Ale. Or Pedigree Bitter.

He could BOO. At least then he could be OK for following directions of getting a batter in the box. The only way this would hurt him any more than taking the original out is if the other team says something while that batter is batting and then he is just back in the same situation he was in to start with.

Not a great option but it is an option for those who said he had none.

Here's what happened next......
 

Thanks for the replies. My evaluators (yes, I got evaluated on this game) said that I handled it well, but they would have used the ten second rule to call the batter out. (What would have happened last year, when we didn't have the ten second rule????)

So, after I called the batter out for not appearing, the teams switched sides. I am in my position, back to the visitor's dugout, watching the home team get done with their short huddle, when I notice only 4 players taking their defensive positions (pitcher, catcher, 1st and 3rd). I turn to HC and ask him, "Where are the rest of the players?". He responds, "They don't want to take the field!!!" I tell him, "You have one minute coach." and I start counting. After about 30 seconds, I tell him, "Let's go, coach!" and he says, "Heck, just call it." I grinned, walked behind home plate and announced, "Ball game."

Both evaluators told me they had never seen anything like that before. I guess I get to talk about my game situation at the next meeting.

Wow... Talk about mutiny! Did he take them out back and shoot 'em?

For the coach to allow (yes, allow - he is the adult here) the team to get into this position probably means he does not have the wherewithall to do now what needs doing.

Every member of the mutiny is off the team for whatever is left of the season. Bring up any players from the B squad or 9th grade or Jr Hi teams that want to play JV. Or, disband the JV team.

PS: Any way you can find out what happened after with this team? I surely hope they did not just show up in 2 days at their next game with the same roster...

I lean more toward the beers Samual Adams, (Well Rounded; Clean Fruit Finish; Great Everyday Beer!) and Chimay, (Dry yet Lightly Sweet; Richly Flavored; Herbal; Strong Alcohol; Fantastic Head! Powerful Ale!):D

The coach can go shorthanded. There doesn't need to be a reason to go shorthanded as long as it isn't an ejection. Of course, he loses the player in the field, but it is either that or go home.

Just for fun, I have to ask this question. Why did you do that?

I would just wave my partner in, go to opposing coach and tell him the game was forfeited and sign anything the team needed signed (scorebook) and exit the field.

I don't know what happened to the HC of this JV team, but I know the HC of the V team and I know he will rip into the HC, and then the players. Haven't heard anything yet.

IRISH, the gate to the exit of the field was over by the home team's dugout, so I (not on purpose, but sort of by accident) stopped behind the plate to call the game.

Well, actually, I was working on what is somewhat of a myth among coaches and players that there is some magic in the words, "ball game".

I've heard arguments from "the umpire said 'ball game' so it is over" to "the game isn't over because the umpire never said 'ball game' ".

Great post and very thought provoking. I have a question: For those who took an out and continued, would you guys just take another out and continue if her spot in the lineup came up again?

That depends... did she stay in the dugout again, or did she come to bat like she's supposed to?

It would depend on why she's out. If the coach pulled her from the game and went shorthanded, then yes. If I called 3 strikes for not taking a stance in the batter's box, then it would depend on what she did the next time she came up. If she comes up to bat, she bats. If not, she's out again.