Illegal pitch?

[jg1235]

As must know during any given tournament the front of the pitchers plate can resemble the Grand Canyon. Is it illegal if a pitcher does not maintain contact with her drag foot? I assumed that the pitchers plate had to be flush with the ground and if it was not and the pitchers foot lost contact over the said hole and then dragged it was legal pitch. Umpire this weekend was calling illegal pitch because her foot was gliding over hole and did not go down in it.

 

[Stretch]

If you are ahead, take plenty of time in between innings to fill it in. If behind, ask the ump to stop the clock so you can repair the field or call the grounds crew. Either way he will more than likely stop calling them because most umps seem to always have someplace to go and are trying to hurry the game.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Pitchers do not have to maintain contact through a hole/depression - they're legal as long as they're "no higher than the level plane of the ground."

 

[jg1235]

That is my understanding as well SoCal

 

[SoCal_Dad]

I quoted from the ASA rule. Coach should have known the rule and protested.

 

[FastBat]

The foot doesn't need to maintain contact with a hole/depression. However, that's max a few inches, 6 inches maybe. I have found dirt and in between innings filled it in. The problem is in the interpretation of the rule and what actually happened. The ump may have known the rule, just thought she was not in contact for 18 inches, then that's illegal because that's how he interpreted it. You can also look at her drag line and see where her foot is dragging.

 

[Comp]

The foot is not required to stay in contact with the pitching plate, the pitcher may push off and drag away. And, has been posted above, if there is a hole, the rule says specifically the foot does not have to maintain contact with the ground, but may not be any higher than the surrounding ground.

 

[Louuuuu]

This summer, I umped a game where one pitcher would break out the Ringor Rake every inning and move the dirt around out of the way in front of the plate just the way she liked it, then three outs later, the other pitcher would fill her excavating in and groom the area to her own liking. Big, obvious ruts. Every half inning - in a timed game! Probably wasted a whole innings' worth of AB's. I had to chuckle behind my mask.

It's not like the girls were doing this just to make the other one mad. 12U girls? Never...

 

[Comp]

This summer, I umped a game where one pitcher would break out the Ringor Rake every inning and move the dirt around out of the way in front of the plate just the way she liked it, then three outs later, the other pitcher would fill her excavating in and groom the area to her own liking. Big, obvious ruts. Every half inning - in a timed game! Probably wasted a whole innings' worth of AB's. I had to chuckle behind my mask.

It's not like the girls were doing this just to make the other one mad. 12U girls? Never...

1 minute between innings. If they arent done grooming the field, no warm ups and start calling a ball every 20 seconds.

 

[Louuuuu]

No. I'm not that kind of Ump.

Tuesday evening. Sun is shining, birds are singing. A "Local Travel" league. A 14-0 team playing a 3-11 team, and piling on a couple of runs each inning. Two games left in the season.
Standings aren't affected by the outcome. Me calling a Ball every 20 seconds isn't going to change anything. Let 'em play their head games.

 

[Comp]

In your own words you said they wasted an entire inning of at bats messing around with the field. If they are wasting time they aren't playing ball. It may be rec league, but we still have a job to do and letting them waste an entire inning of playing time is not what we are suppose to let happen. The first time it happens, talk to the coach and explain they need to hurry up and there is a 1 minute limit. If it happens after that, start penalizing. They will figure it out.

 

[FastBat]

This summer, I umped a game where one pitcher would break out the Ringor Rake every inning and move the dirt around out of the way in front of the plate just the way she liked it, then three outs later, the other pitcher would fill her excavating in and groom the area to her own liking. Big, obvious ruts. Every half inning - in a timed game! Probably wasted a whole innings' worth of AB's. I had to chuckle behind my mask.

It's not like the girls were doing this just to make the other one mad. 12U girls? Never...

This is the good stuff people remember and talk about...made me chuckle, loved it!

 

[BretMan2]

We're there to play ball, not stand around and watch somebody play with dirt.

 

[Supertech]

My question about an illegal pitch is does the base umpire have the option of not calling it? We had a situation that the opposing pitcher was clearly leaping and the base umpire admitted that she was but told us that we had the "option" of calling it and was not going to. Is this correct? Also, we told she was not gaining an advantage by leaping. We tried to appeal to the home plate umpire and were told that it was not his call. We did not know that an umpire has the option to NOT make a call. Any comments??? Thanks.

 

[Louuuuu]

The answer is "yes". He/she can "not call" any given infraction.

(But if enough people complain, the scheduler will "not call" him to do any games in the future.)

* Footnote A: If people would have complained about my previously-mentioned Mound Grooming Game (no one did) I could have been called on the carpet.

* Footnote B: If Umps called "illegal pitch" every time a coach or parent screams it, we would be having Base-On-Balls tournaments.

 

[BretMan2]

My question about an illegal pitch is does the base umpire have the option of not calling it?

I can tell you that's NOT what they're teaching at umpire school!

Plus, any umpire who justifies not calling this by using the old "she's not gaining an advantage" probably is inexperienced and doesn't know what he's talking about. We're specifically taught to NOT use that terminology.

Besides...how does he know she's not gaining an advantage? You'd have to make her pitch legally first before you knew if she was better or worse that way!

 

[snoman76]

the non call on illegal pitches is probably the one thing the really drives me crazy. I've heard "well, they are 12, its pool play, its fall, its a friendly*... I don't give a crap what it is, we are here to teach, letting them get away with it isn't teaching them anything...

*in a freindly I would expect him to call time, go out to the circle and explain to the pitcher what she's doing. I don't expect it to be a ball and runners advance in this situation.

 

[backstop09]

...I had to chuckle behind my mask...

Why? What's so funny about what was taking place? I understand it is a game, but you had two kids making themselves THE SHOW instead of being a part of a team game. It's a softball game, not a circus.

 

[Louuuuu]

And now I'm chuckling behind my keyboard because of how upset people like you get with idiots like me.

 

[Fairman]

It is important that your pitcher can land solid. If the opposing pitcher is digging a hole or dragging the Grand Canyon that adversely effects her stability then for goodness-sake allow her to fill the hole and have a clean shot at throwing strikes. Landing with a twisting motion on her foot in someone else's hole is not good for her health nor her ERA.