Giving a batter time
 

I know that we have all been instructed to not give a batter time any longer unless it is for a legitimate reason. I also understand that a batter just holding up their hand has never been an official signal for time, but was just a courtesy that umpires extended to the batter.

Recently I have noticed that some officials appear to be taking not giving the batter time to the extreme. At several recent JC games I have watched, the umpires have refused to hold the pitcher while the batter was still stepping into the box. In some cases the batter has still been holding the bat in one hand with the other hand held up to the umpire when the pitcher has pitched. And it is obvious that some pitchers are using this to their advantage. They are taking the throw back, and immediately stepping back to the pitching plate before the batter has even had a chance to get their signs.

Again, we have been told not to give time unless the batter has a legitimate reason, but, in ASA we also have rule 6-10-B covering quick pitches, and I believe it is rule 10-9 in the NCAA book.

How are you handling giving a batter time to get set and pitchers that are obviously quick pitching?

I start NCAA ball next year - so I dont know what they are teaching .. but in ASA I give time for reasonable things.. like getting set. I've never been instructed not to. Usually they dont need it, but if I need to control the pace or help control the pace, I do. And if they ask for time because the pitcher is taking to long with the sign, I grant that as well.

they should ask for time verbally and keep both hands on their bat - that would be the proper way to ask for time and the smartest.

I use my right hand. An umpire who will not allow the batter to enter the box and set is an idiot and is just begging for a lawsuit.

And that pretty much covers it for all rule sets.

FWIW:
I use my right hand for right handed batters and my left hand for left handed batters. (Same for putting the ball in play where appropriate)
I have been told at various times that is correct..... and that is incorrect.
What's an umpire to do????:confused:

I know to hold the pitcher by holding up your hand. Was just trying to figure out if this is some new directive at the JC level.

At club and high school levels we have been instructed to not award the batter time once both the batter and pitcher are set unless there is a legitimate reason. The key words being both set. Every batter takes just a second to set themselves when they get in the box, no one is ever ready the second the 2nd foot touches the ground.

Most pitchers will wait for the batter to be obviously set, but a few have figured out which umpires are not holding them and are quick pitching before the batter is set.

I think the problem arises that some of the guys you've observed doing this may have done USSSA ball. In slow-pitch in the past (and I know this because I do slow-pitch), it was required to give a VERBAL request for time. We were told to ignore the hand request, and the rules also indicated we didn't have to call time if the batter was out of the box and didn't request time verbally. I think what happened is some of the fast-pitch umpires in USSSA picked up on that, and decided to apply it. The rules have since changed that the batter has to be in the box for the pitcher to start any kind of pitching motion (except the windmilling fancy schmancy stuff in slowpitch) and if their hand is up, we honor that as a request, basically following along the lines of other codes. Maybe some ucking fidiot hasn't caught up to the correct rules on that?

The ASA umpire manual says to use the hand "opposite" the batter- right hand for a right handed batter, left hand for a left handed batter. See the illustrations of umpire signals (out, safe, dead ball, etc.) and the accompanying text for the "Hold Up Play" signal. This was also covered at the National Umpire School I attended last year.

I had never given much thought to this until I was at a high school baseball clinic about five years ago. During some plate drills, one of the umpires used his left hand to signal "don't pitch/hold up play" when there was a left handed batter. The instructor about had a cow. Dressed the guy down pretty good for using the "wrong" hand. Sure enough, baseball mechanics are to always use the right hand.

Since this incident raised my awareness of which hand I was using, the ASA instruction about switching hands based on the batter has always stuck in my mind.

Finally back in the States, so I'll start tossing my $0.02 in FWIW.

This is still the prescribed mechanic in ASA, as emphasized by the NUS this year, last year, and so on and so forth. I'll also emphasize that when you're doing so in SP, make sure you're not completely hidden behind Bubba Da Catcher when holding up the pitch. I step out a little towards the unoccupied batter's box if necessary.

More pertaining to the OP, if the game's tempo is progressing fine, I see no need to deny a batter time to collect his/her thoughts for a couple seconds. If I feel that s/he is abusing the privilege, I simply tell them, "let's pick it up, batter. Step in, please."

A number of years ago, I did have this one knucklehead who, upon stepping into the batter's box would do this drawn out, tai chi-like stretching ceremony with the bat. Every time he stepped up to bat, he'd do this crazy motion with the bat that would take a good 5 to 7 seconds. I told him to quicken it up a bit, but he wouldn't listen.

That is, until I told the pitcher to pitch while he was about halfway through his little jig, and I banged it for a strike. He never did that crap while I was behind the plate again.

You should see what the baseball guys do when someone hollars, "DEADBALL"....

No. Just poor application of the rules by the umpires.

To answer the initial posters' questions... there WAS a local directive about giving time to batters in J.C. Ball... ONCE THEY WERE SET IN THE BOX... I will ALWAYS let them get set when first entering the box.. not letting a player get set when she first comes to bat is silly....

AZ, thanks for the reply. Sounds like the same basic information we have been given for high school and local clubs.

I know guys who take off their hats for a moment of silence. :D

You had Ichiro? :p

I don't allow left handed batters ;)

Of course, I always use the outside hand, hand opposite the batter, the hand same as the batter, whatever you want to call it.

I have and it ain't pretty! :)

One of the teams I had yesterday has taken great strides in equalizing th enumber of irght-handed and left-handed batters in their lineup. last year, they had 1 token right handed batter - now they have 2.:D

Years ago while watching a baseball game where the BU who also umpired softball called dead ball because the batter hit a pitch into his foot while still in the batter’s box. The PU hustled to the ball, picked it up and began blowing on the ball several times. The PU then announced that all was ok and that through resuscitation he’d brought the ball back to life and it was time to play ball.

Are you serious? I'm ROTFL over this. What age group was this?

HS Varsity. I chuckled for several innings.

I believe in NFHS BB they are using the DDB signal now?

They'll come around on the dead ball call as well.

That will be fun because heads will explode.

And the friendly white uniformed gentlemen with the nice wraparound white strait jacket and rubbered white paddy wagon van didn't come to take this blue to a nice state-owned "hotel" equipped with a bunch of rubber rooms? :D

Headless umpires...chaos will ensue. Headless coaches...serenity for umpires. :D

"Headless coaches?" Isn't that redundant?

If so, who stole my damned serenity? Because I sure as hell don't have any on the field. :D

Getting back to the original topic. How many times will you let a batter ask for (or is it demand :p)time. Some of these players are out of control with tightening their batting gloves or digging in their feet at the box.As other officials have posted I'll give time if it's an legitimate request otherwise stay in the batters box and swing!

Unless the batter has requested time in a timely manor, my response is "Balls in play." I stop the jockeying back and forth between the pitcher and batters early in the game by directing the batter to the box and directing the pitcher to play ball.

I've also been know to mention to the catcher that her pitcher has twenty seconds to deliver the pitch after she's received the ball back and grant the catcher time out to deliver the message.

This is directly from the NCAA dierctor of umpires:

Granting Batter’s Request for ‘Time’

-The batter should be granted Time when the umpire thinks it is necessary and appropriate.

-Batters should not routinely be given Time whenever she asks for it.

-You are NOT wrong to deny granting Time when the batter is uncomfortable in her stance, and the pitcher still has time left.

-The batter should NOT be given Time if there are no apparently unusual circumstances.

Realize that the game situation may be an appropriate reason to grant Time. An extreme example: bottom of seventh, score visitor 1, home 0, home team has not had a runner past first all game and batter hits a triple. The pitcher may shake off more signals than usual and need a little time. Or, same situation, but two outs and batter hits a double and home team brings in a pinch hitter. This hitter may need some time. Good game management requires that umpires recognize this to be a normal flow (or normal break in flow) and grant Time accordingly.

When a batter requests Time, and you are not going to grant it, say something positive like: "The ball is in play," or "We are still playing,” Stay in there,” or “Keep playing." If the plate umpire responds with the word "No," while not incorrect, it is can be misinterpreted by the pitcher or catcher to be the beginning of "No Pitch."

The umpire’s tone needs to be firm but not mean.

Says Jim Evans about the DDB, "What does that mean? Is it in a coma?" :D

i learned this year that there are pitchers who don't even look at my stop sign and just start to pitch, so I put my stop sign right on top of the catcher's helmet and in a tournament, i had this pitcher who quick-pitched way too much, so I deliberately took my sweet time to get set, keeping my stop sign on top of the catcher's helmet, got into my crouch and then pointed to the pitcher to pitch. a couple of those "slow down" messages and a few "no pitch" calls got her coach to tell her to wait till i'm ready...

i've even had a few pitch when i'm still putting on my mask, so I learned to put on my mask to the side of the plate rather than behind the plate... i already give them a huge strike zone, they need to give me a chance to get ready or i'm just going to keep "no pitch"ing them...

i'll extend the "time" courtesy to the batter unless it's being done deliberately to slow down the game since they already have to deal with my huge strike zone, they should get a chance to step out for a sec up to a point.

once i had a 3 hour game and both teams were just dilly dallying between innings and it took them 2hrs 15 min to play the first 4 innings (lots of runs too) so after the 4th inning, i took away the between inning warmups, as soon as the 3rd out was made, i yelled: "balls in, batter up!" played the last 3 innings in 45 min.

Did he really?

Thats funny :D

While at the Evans Academy several years ago an umpire yelled dead ball and one of the instructors ran over to the rolling ball and beat it into the ground with a bat. When the instructor finished he declared that the ball had still been moving but it was dead now.

I don't recall hearing another dead ball called for the remainder of the five weeks.:D

I know small ball has it's own mechanics, signals, etc. No problem with that (so long as the BB officials don't try to impose them on a softball game as if they are superior, etc.). However, this one makes little sense to me. There is a distinct difference between a dead ball and calling TIME. For example, if the ball is thrown out of play, it is dead when it goes out of play, not when the umpire declares it so. Whereas, if a player or coach requests TIME, it is not a time out UNTIL the umpire declares it so. Calling TIME when no one has requested TIME just to avoid having to say DEAD BALL is the screwy mechanic, if you ask me (but, of course, they didn't... and won't).

I guess I really don't understand this issue here. To me, and it may be just a softball thing, there is a difference between "time" (a requested/directed suspension of during a lull in play) and "dead ball" (an event-driven stoppage during while a play is in progress). These are two specific actions during a game, so why wouldn't there be two separate mechanics?

MLB Official Rules defines both a Dead Ball and Time separately, so what is the issue?

And these same rules routinely refer to a ball in play as "alive", so I am still confounded by their problem with an umpire declaring a ball "dead".

I know I had occassion to shout "DEAD BALL" in a 18U Legion game and BOTH dugouts started shouting "its dead, bury it" etc. It was a memorable and slighly embarrassing thing! For OBS/INT etc, the correct mechanic is "TIME".
Lame but thats what it is.

We must likewise remember baseball is not softball with a little ball - their aged mechanics are theirs, no matter how out dated...

As much as it pains me to say this, I agree with Wade on this one.

So using the same mechanic for strike and out is a modern innovation? And don't get me started on the syntax for designating runners.

I don't disagree, just don't understand the issue.

IF I umpired little ball (I don't) I would use their mechanics. I didn't say otherwise, despite the fact that more than a few BB umpires will smugly bring their BB mechanics to the softball field. What I said was it was a screwy mechanic. As Mike also points out, softball uses DEAD BALL and TIME for different situations. The BB abhorrence to using the word DEAD is silly.

I don't know how people always seem to extrapolate such opinions into some strawman idea (such as refusing to use BB mechanics in a BB game) when that was never said nor implied.

I was just making a general comment.. dont read anything into it. I wasnt making implications.

Touche