Cheating...?

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I was watching 2 teams play a few minutes ago at the Fairborn Shootout and witnessed something I couldn't believe that resulted in a call from the umpire that astounded me!

Let me set the stage....

The team batting, oh let's call them the Glacial Erratics, had based loaded. As the pitcher begins her wind up, the canary-coat manager and third base coach screams at the top of his lungs, "Time...TIME!!!...TIME!!!!" The pitcher stops herself in mid-pitch. Then this thirdbase coach-manager runs to the home plate umpire with his hands up, "Illegal pitch, illegal pitch, illegal pitch!!!!!". I watched with my mouth agape as the umpire awarded a base to all three runners and a run scored.

First of all, this is exactly why I pound into my DD's head no matter what, always finish your pitch - NO MATTER WHAT!!! ? BUT!, was that really the correct call? Are the coaches allowed to distract and even inhibit the opposing players in this manner? I was expecting the batter to be charged a strike, called out or the lead runner called out, but to reward this behavior with the advancement of runners and a run?!?!

Pleae someone tell me they are as shocked...!!!!! :-?

Edit: Removed Psuedo-Name as it was too close to a couple legitimate names - TheBearMay​

 

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was it a no doubt orchestrated ploy to distract the pitcher ? ?If so, ? Please name the org ---I want to be especially prepared should our team have to face them . No one does this, thus the need for advanced warning. ?MD

PS shocked ? you gotta be kiddin' . That sort of stuff goes on all the time.

 

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Yes it definitely was done to score a run, the moment she stopped he 'ran' straight to the home plate umpire yelling "Illegal Pitch, ILLEGAL PITCH". He didn't do anything afterwards for which he would have needed time, talk to the better, substitute, etc, etc...


Ok, not that a coach would be desperate enough to do it shocked me, the fact that the umpire allowed it shocked me!

I'll PM the 16U team name...

 

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If my daughter was on that team, I wouldn't be able to get her off of it quick enough. Just amazing.

 

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When someone calls time in any sport, kids stop. ?They are taught to do that by the coach's.

What did the other coach do?

I am glad my daughter does not play for someone like that. If she did it would not be for long.




Need Bretman on this one!!


Straightleg

 

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I have witnessed something like this as well. ? I am hoping that the competetive softball arena does not believe this to be an acceptable stategy. ?Sure we all like to win.... but not like that. ?

Softball, like other sports, teaches many life lessons. ?I wouldn't want my daughters on a team that believes in 'winning' in this fashion. ?Let the girls decide with their bats and gloves who the real winners are!

BTW-The weathermen really got today wrong... at least in our part of the state! ?:-/

 

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There is a rule that covers this. Here is the ASA rule (others are similar):

6-10-E: No player, manager or coach shall call time, employ any other word or phrase,
or commit any act while the ball is live for the obvious purpose of trying to make
the pitcher commit an illegal pitch. A warning shall be issued to the offending
team, and a repeat of this type act by any member of the team warned shall
result in the offender being ejected from the game.
EFFECT - Section 10 A-E: The ball is dead, and all subsequent action on that
pitch is canceled.

Pretty cut-and-dried. Dead ball, no pitch declared, then warn the coach not to do that again. If he does- or any other memeber of his team does- ...bye-bye!

 

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UNBELIEVABLE!
I will certainly go through this with my pitchers though in case it ever happens to us in the future.

 

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This spring I had a high school baseball game where a coach screamed, "Time!", and made his own pitcher stop, thus committing a balk.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the next inning he did it again! Only this time it was the bottom of the seventh in a tie game and he balked in the winning run!

I don't think I've ever seen a softball coach do anything that bone-headed...

This rule has come up only one other time I can recall in any of my games. A pitcher stopped mid-delivery and I called an illegal pitch. This was at a fairly crowded- and loud!- game with lots of cheering and yelling going on.

The defensive coach was adamant that the third base coach had yelled "Time!" to cause the illegal pitch. But, with all the background noise, it wasn't obvious to either myself or my partner. Neither of us had noted anything unusual from the coach.

The IP call stood. But this one incident stuck in the back of my mind for future reference- even though it's never come up again. In a very noisy environment, anything yelled by a coach is likely to get lost in the background. It can make this a tough call, as the violation by the coach does need to be obvious.

 

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For those who witnessed it, just consider the source and spread the word. This is a small community and word travels fast.

 

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I know eveybody on here (well almost everybody, i.e. Dice, Truth, etc.) won't admit to it, but I bet the thought of putting a ball into the hip of the coach's kid next time she is up crossed a lot people's mind when this happened.

 

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Well....Don't know about the coach's kid, but I do recall a team that would occasionally throw to first or third for their throwdown.....

 

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That is definitely low class - there is a difference between being crafty and being a tool!

 

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What about a coach calling time on just about every other batter? We witnessed this at a tournament we were at. The umpire called for a batter 3 times before one came to the plate!!! Then once she was there the coach would call time to discuss her batting technique with her (Isn't that for practice?) or the first base coach would call time to ask the ump a question. Needless to say, the opposing team tried to get the ball rolling and they were called for "quick pitching" go figure. This was on a timed game with a well known organization. What a shame some coaches stoop this low to win!!!!!!!!! Glad we didn't have to play them!!!!

I agree with veni let the girls decide on their own who wins.

 

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I would think in that instance the umpire should take charge of the game and disallow it or start charging strikes to the batter each time.

 

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That's what we thought too. I think the umpire wasn't sure how to hand this situation or if there is a rule for this kind of behavior. I would have liked to see him call the first batter out and continue calling them out until on came to the plate. That would have gotten them movin.

 

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There are rules for this. Bretman will have to verify but I think you are only allowed one? offensive conference per inning with your hitters. I wouldn't know the exact rule because I've never had to have it enforced on me

 

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I think the umpire was trying to avoid any conflict. Even after several attempts by the opposing coaches and parents the plate umpire still did not enforce any rule.

 

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You are ?Allowed only one ?offensive ?conference per inning. ?I only have my USAAA book today, but it is section 8 ?B. ? So Blue shouldn't have allowed this.

 

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I think that and also doesn't the batter have to enter the box within 10 or 20 seconds of the pitcher standing on the rubber? It might be different for different sanctioning bodies, but I believe USSSA has that rule...