Different way to handle this ?

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

Also, something to remember. An injury such as a dislocated shoulder can actually be potentially life threatening. Joints have a lot of blood vessels running in them. When a joint is seriously injured, the extent of the injury is not know immediately, thus it may need immediate treatment.

The time it takes to let the play end naturally (in this case, F8 retrieves the errant throw, throws it back to F4, and F4 tags the runner) is not going to make a hill of beans difference to the player's outcome. You're talking a few seconds, not tens of minutes, that will elapse before someone comes to the player's aid.

What you do when you call time immediately in a situation like the OP is nothing more than avoid being labeled unsympathetic. While that might be the right thing to do when dealing with 10U girls in rec league play, it's not really wise at the higher levels, especially during championship play. And from a medical standpoint, you're not gaining the player anything.

Suppose this was a runner who severely twisted her ankle rounding second base, and she falls in writhing pain between second and third. Why should we kill the play immediately and award the runner either second or third? I know I may sound like an ogre here, but she did it to herself, so she shouldn't be given a free pass.

Yes, if the injury is to the head, and/or it's gruesome in nature like the kid on the Louisville basketball team, go ahead and kill it immediately. Otherwise, there's no reason to stop play. The sport is such that injuries are going to happen, and participants have to understand and accept that.