End of Inning Question

[AndrewGeorge]

Would like to know the official answer to this and get some opinions on how this was handled.

Situation:

Bases loaded, zero outs, top third inning. Batter hits into a 5-2-3 double play and the head coach for the fielding team is so excited about a pretty nice play that he calls them off the field (thinking it was 3 outs). Lots of cheers, high fives, pretty loud gathering. I (the visiting team book keeper) am trying to communicate to the umpire that is only 2 outs, he looks at me holding up 2 fingers asking if that was only 2 outs. He looks at his clicker and acknowledges that is only 2 outs but does not say anything. The remaining base runners head off the field as I am telling the coaches that is only 2 outs. By the time the coaches understand the mistake and ask the umpire about it he says that since the baserunners left the field the inning is over anyway.

Let me clarify that the umpire never said anything after calling the runners out at home and then at first on the double play. He was standing about half way up the 3rd base line were he made the calls, that is also were he nodded his head to acknowledge my 2 out question. He never tried to clarify the situation or anything. He just stood there and let the defense leave the field and then the baserunners leave the field. The defense was off the field (between the 3rd base line and their dugout) gathered up before the baserunners were off the field.

When asked about it directly, the umpire said it is not his job to keep track of outs. Not sure I agree with this but even with this said, I pointed out to him while it was happening that there were only 2 outs and he just stood there doing nothing and letting the defense and offense leave the field.

What is the official ruling here and who is at fault for not correcting this? It is more on the batting team for letting their runners leave the field (after the defense was completely off the field)? They are certainly the ones that paid the price for the mistake. Should the umpire have done or said anything during this? Once it was pointed out to him (the runners were still on the field) was he still supposed to just stand there and say / do nothing?

 

[BretMan2]

If the teams run off the field on their own, then it's their own fault. Teams are responsible for knowing the game situations (count, number of outs, etc.). It's not the umpire's responsibility to keep teams from doing something stupid. They have coaches for that.

If, on the other hand, this umpire had told the teams there were three outs, when there were only two, then that would be the umpire's fault and a correctable error. You would put the runners back on base and resume the game with two outs.

That's apparently not what happened here. The teams ran off on their own accord, not because the umpire relayed bad information to them. And, once the baserunners enter dead ball area, they really are out.

Apparently the defensive team profited from this, but goes both ways. If the offensive team had recognized there were only two outs, they could have continued running the bases and scoring runs. Would you like the umpire to step in there and kill the play when runners are legally advancing?

 

[AndrewGeorge]

Thank you for your response. The umpire here then looks to have done what you indicated should be done. Just for curiosity sake, if there had been no runners on base and the defense left the field, how would this situation change? Does thing next batter get a free base? The inning ended here because when the base runners left the field they counted as the last out, what if there were no runners on base?

Again, thanks for your time answering these questions. Trying to find answers in a rule book can often time be more of a job than my everyday job.

 

[BretMan2]

If there were no runners on base when this happened, then you would just get the defense back on the field and resume the game with two outs.