Stepping on the Plate

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by tmielke

I have coached, I prefer to umpire. Maybe my perspective is a bit different.

Let the players play, let the coach coach, I'll call balls, strikes and outs. I don't see any need to get involved in the outcome of the game by managing the clock for the coach.

A timed softball game is no different than any other timed gamed, clock management becomes part of the game. An umpire purposefully delaying the game because they don't like the lack of hustle of a team is a lot closer to unsportsmanlike conduct than a coach hollering at Suzie to leave early.

What makes it ok for the umpire to delay the game when it is against the rules for the participants to delay the game?

Tom

Well, unfortunately, the job of the umpire is regulate the game under the rules the teams agreed upon.

In every other "clocked" games, there are also rules which manage the manner in which a team can "use" the clock as a strategy.

However, like it or not, IMO, one of the main causes for a clock to be involved in the game of softball is because of the coaches.

When I was growing up we had this thing called "practice" and subsequently took part in "scrimmages". This is where the coaches taught players how to play the game. When we played the game, the coach coached the team through the game.

Nowadays, some coaches seem to want to coach the players throughout every step of the game, from during warm-ups to each at-bat. An umpire tries to enforce the time limitations between innings or call a strike because the batter is having a hard time reading the 20-gesture signal from the Gene Mauch wannabe at 3B and all you hear is the "let the girls play".

I can appreciate your position and readily admit my examples do not apply to the most of the coaches out there. However, the type of tactics this type of coaches use is one reason a clock has been added to what is supposed to be a non-timed game.

But I lean towards Steve's way of looking at things. The teams agreed to play with a clock, unfortunately, the umpire is saddled with the task of managing the game situations.