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Wed Nov 05, 2008, 12:03pm
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"friendly" tournament, no; otherwise, yes
Given that the UIC mentioned that the tournament was of a "friendly" nature, and I've worked some of these, some subtle things might be overlooked. A lot of times, coaches/teams are trying out players at different positions and these players might not know the nuances of the game. If I'm working a scrimmage between two travel teams, I'll ask the coaches at the start how they want the game officiated. Sometimes they want free substitution, or a little leeway forsomeone who's pitching for the first time. As long as they both agree, I'm amenable.
So in that environment, a little leniency might be appropriate. Given that, I've also seen coaches go ballistic on what they've perceived as a bad call or rule interpretation they didn't like. These coaches are obviously wound a bit too tight and forget the purpose of the tournament. In any case, the ASA rule is: (Fast Pitch) When the runner fails to keep contact with the base to which the runner is entitled until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. EFFECT - Sections 8 R-S: The ball is dead, “no pitch” is declared when applicable, and the runner is out. Note that it doesn't mention anything about advantage being gained. Doing a 12-14 year old rec league last spring, [one umpire games] the runner at second base didn't return after a pitch. Once the pitcher had the ball in the circle the runner still stood there. I waited, but once the pitcher took the pitcher's plate and began her delivery, I called the runner out. Offensive coach whined "You're gonna call THAT??!!" "Yes, coach. Now explain the rule to your baserunner." Ted 
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Wed Nov 05, 2008, 12:20pm
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If a baserunner is shuffling her feet, positioning her foot on the bag, etc., calling that because she "fails to keep contact" is OOO IMO (with the exception I noted a couple of posts above!  ).
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Tom Last edited by Dakota; Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 12:33pm.
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Wed Nov 05, 2008, 03:25pm
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Well, knowing that a lot of the girls at that level are still learning the game, I wanted to give her the chance to return back to the base. Clearly, she didn't know the rule, and none of her coaches told her to get back, so they either didn't notice or didn't want others [including the umpire] to be aware of it.
Had the pitcher dallied about some, like many do at that age, the runner might have remembered to get back on the base. That clearly wasn't happening, so she was going to be called out. The pitcher getting right back on the pitcher's plate facilitated a quicker call. In the same league, a playoff game ended when the batter grounded out and saw the throw sail over F3's head. The runner took a couple of quick steps toward second base and saw that the ball made a quick carom off the fence post [not out of play] and bounced right back to F3. Defensive coach is yelling for F3 to tag the runner, who is now casually walking back to 1B from short RF. Out, game over, season ends for that team. All the coaches and most of the parents knew what had happened, and most regretted that one team's season had to end that way. All who spoke to me after the game agreed it was the right call. Some lessons learned are harder to take than others. Ted
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Wed Nov 05, 2008, 03:29pm
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Wed Nov 05, 2008, 03:40pm
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"But Blue, how can you end a game with a call like that?!?!"
"'Cuz that's when it happened." or another one of my favorites, "How can you make that call in such an important game?" "Because it's important to make the correct call no matter how important the game."
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Thu Nov 06, 2008, 09:21am
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I told the coach (after batter stepped out of box, hit ball) "How can I NOT make a call like that in a game like this?" A game is a game is a game!
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