When is "too late?"

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by KJUmp

As I said in an earlier reply, "For all I know I could have been 100% wrong." However I do not think for a minute that I did not "use good judgement out there." Something went askew. I had to make a decision at that moment (without having knowledge of any ASA recommended procedure or interp to guide me) using judgement that I felt would be fair to BOTH teams. I don't think you'd get any argument from coaches that a large percentage of the time being home team provides them a distinct advantage.

KJ, I hope you know that my comment about "good judgment" was not meant to be a slight in any way. I would think that my comments on here would show that I'm not one to give cheap shots across the bow (unless you play the piano). It's merely a reminder to us all that sometimes, rules and procedures are intended to be written documentation of common sense when it comes to fair play.

Could you force them to stick with their initial utterance? Sure, and I think that everyone is completely aware of the concept of "home team advantage." They've had an entire lifetime up until that moment to determine what they should say when they win the coin toss.

However, I don't think that it's out of the question to give a simple, calm verification of "away?" It's quite obviously the coach had a massive brain fart, and I'm not going to allow the coin toss to set the tone of the rest of the game. Nor do I believe that allowing a coach to verify their decision is in any way unfair to the opposing team.

That being said, it's still largely situational. If they realize their mistake after we're already walking away, I'm telling that coach that it's too late.

Originally Posted by KJUmp

I think that perhaps at some point, it would not be a bad idea at all for ASA to have a paragraph somewhere in the rule book, the rules supplement, or the clinic guide, that lays out the proper procedure for a coin flip. I mean heck, they sell the darn ASA flipping coins.

Maybe, but we'll see. I never thought ASA would ever spell out different ways of altering a bat, nor did I think they would ever publish a "safety guideline" in the rule book.

And yet they did!