courtesy runner question and crappy umpire

[RRB2]

Last night in the rain, the catcher was a baserunner on 3rd base. The coach called time for a courtesy runner, the runner left the field before the courtesy runner entered the field. So they were both in the dugout at the same time. Does this violate any rule?

Here is the crappy umpire part of it, during a time out he came to our dugout and I asked him, "for future reference if that should have been an out" his response was "he didn't care because it was raining and he just wanted to make it to the 5th inning so he could call the game" Ironically if he would have called it, that inning would have been 10-15 minutes shorter because it took 5 more batters to get that 3rd out. True to his word at 4-1/2 innings he came over and told the coach this was the last inning. Granted I agreed with him that it was at the point that it was getting dangerous for the girls but still not the point. His strike zone also increase in size as well.

 

[Hilliarddad3]

Two different issues, time was called so she can go to dugout, maybe she had something in her eyes who knows ...

As for the rest, it is what it is and girls safety should always be first. Strike zones change when it's perfect weather, so don't worry what you can't control.....

 

[backstop09]

Ironically if he would have called it, that inning would have been 10-15 minutes shorter...

And he would have been wrong. Assuming time was granted when it was called, there is nothing wrong with what happened. What section of the rule book made you think someone should have been called out?

 

[BretMan2]

No, there was no rule violation here. Nothing to call anybody out for.

As for the "crappy" umpire...not going to get into that because all we have is one person's opinion of one side of the story. But I will say this about ending a game because weather conditions are too bad to keep playing: The field is either playable or it's not. Telling the teams that "this is the last inning" isn't the way to handle it. This is basically saying that the conditions are bad now, but we're going to keep playing just to make the game official.

If the field is unsafe now...end it now! If it's not, then keep playing until it is. If you're not ending the game right then, that means you've already made a decision that it's safe to play. You'd need ESP to know that it won't be safe 1/2 inning from now. Wait until you get to that point before calling it.

Ending games because of bad weather or darkness is always a tricky call. The safety of the players should be the main concern. If you end it, somebody will be mad that you ended it early (usually the team that is losing). If you keep playing, somebody will be mad that you're still playing (usually the team that is winning).