NSA 10 second rule

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I understand this is a rule, but has anyone actually seen this called? I did tonight in the Akron Summer Slam. It completely shocked us, no warning just strike 1.

The batter must take his position within ten (10) seconds after
the umpire has called "play ball". He/she must have both feet
within the lines of the box before the start of the pitch. He/she
may touch the line, but no part of his/her foot may be outside of
the lines prior to the pitch.
EFFECT: The ball is dead. The umpire will call a strike on the
batter and will also issue a warning to the batter to take his/her
position or risk being called out. If the batter refuses to take
his/her position after the warning, he/she will be called out. The
warning will be given to a batter only one time per game. Any
repeated violation during the game by the player will result in
an out being called. This rule is intended to help speed up the
play of the game. Umpires, while using good judgement in
enforcement of this rule, must prohibit the batter from delaying
the game by taking excessive or unnecessary amount of time
entering the batter's box

 

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An entire season of high school ball and a half season of summer ball and it has not even been brought up in pre-game.

 

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It's not really something that should be brought up in the pre-game conference.

It's a playing rule and it's in the rule book. The pre-game conference is not a place for the umpire to present a rules clinic on miscellaneous rules that might or might not come up during the game.

It's a place to get the line-ups, go over the ground rules, have the coaches verify that their players are properly equipped, maybe flip a coin to determine the home team then get the game started.

From a practical standpoint, a key phrase in the rule is the part about the umpire "using good judgment" in it's enforcement. It's not really a rule intended as a "gotcha" to ring up cheap strikes or outs. It is intended to prevent unessesary delays in the game and to give the umpire a tool to deal with them.

If the batter is delaying, the umpire should say something along the lines of, "Come on, batter, let's go. Get in the box", to prod her along before resorting to calling the penalty strike. If the batter further delays after that little warning, the penalty strike is the next step.

Good game management by the umpire will prevent this from ever becoming an issue.

 

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Like I said I understand it is a rule, never have seen it called and it was the bottom of the first, no score and he batter was not stalling. Instead of a 2- 1 count with runners on second and third, we went to a 2 - 2 count, which of course changes the pitch selection just a little.

I am all for making the game move quickly, but I don't believe that situation called for a penalty.

Heck, according to MLB rules, a pitcher has 20 seconds to throw a pitch. I can tell you I have never seen that called before and I watch a lot of games!

 

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I understand that you understand...My comments were aimed at the rule being discussed at the pre-game conference. And I've seen and heard about some umpires being overzealous about using the rule. Sounds like maybe that was the case here.

Interestingly, Major League Baseball last month issued directives to their umpires to "crack down" on unecessary delays by enforcing some of the rules already on the books. I guess they want to shave five minutes off their usual three hour game times!

Story here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_relea...52&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

And, earlier this week, they got serious about it: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...lug=ap-speedupfines&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

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I understand bretman and I agree, it is not something normally brought up at pre-game. However, it was brought up at our rules interpretation meeting and we were told it would be emphasized and enforced. Some coaches were even joking about putting up a shot clock ala NBA basketball. Usually when a rule becomes a point of emphasis, it is mentioned at pre-game conferences early in the year. At least that has been my experience.

 

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If you want to enforce a rule that you know virtually never gets called what?s wrong with saying ? hey coach, we really want to keep things moving and will strictly enforce the 10 second rule?. ?I hate it when BLUE sticks out his chest and makes the call because he knows it?s in the book and ?he?s right to make the call?. ?Stop thinking YOU?RE the show and remember why you?re there. ?I love guys that are professional, communicate and keep the game moving

 

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Gee. What a shame. All those really meaningful signs the girls get when they have two strikes and the bases are empty and they step out of the box and the coach starts flashing away and the hitter stares intently--- will have to go away? The game will never be the same if they start enforcing this rule!

 

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The older you get in this sport it is very important that the girls know the rules. Even if the coach does not. Not saying the this is the case, but I will say that if this was an ASA tourney and the girls were above 14u than ( Good Call) by the umpire!! I would be very happy even though the call might not have went my way, that the UMP was going by the rules ( For the girls Sake). I have to say that the ( NSA, ASA) Tourneys that we have played this year we have had some of the best umpires ( So Far) :-? I do not know if this post was a COMPLAINT or just a rule check???? Teach your girls the rules, and go by them and this should not even be a post ( JMHO) :-X

 

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Do you mean like the strike zone stated in the rule book. I tried calling out an umpire today that insisted our batter waiting to bat at the start of the inning be located in the circle, and not anywhere else, especially on the right side of the plate timing up the pitches. When I argued he said it's stated in the rule book that way. I simply mentioned so is the strike zone and he gave me a stern reprimand for my attitude. I like how they enforce some rules and not others.

 

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The older you get in this sport it is very important that the girls know the rules. Even if the coach does not. Not saying the this is the case, but I will say that if this was an ASA tourney and the girls were above 14u than ( Good Call) by the umpire!! I would be very happy even though the call might not have went my way, that the UMP was going by the rules ( For the girls Sake). I have to say that the ( NSA, ASA) Tourneys that we have played this year we have had ?some of the best umpires ( So Far) :-? I do not know if this post was a COMPLAINT or just a rule check???? Teach your girls the rules, and go by them and this should not even be a post ( JMHO) :-X

It was NOT a complaint or a rule check. I was just sharing an observation that an umpire pulled a rule out of a book, that I have never seen in all my years in the sport. Yes I admitted it was a rule and even pasted the rule from the book, what I was shocked about was the lack of a warning, especially in the first inning, the funny thing was, no player ever sped up their approach to getting in the box the rest of the game and it was never called again. So if you are looking for a complaint, be consistent, call it throughout the game. its no different than being consistent on ball and strikes.

 

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I know that I've seen umpires who are just itching to make calls like this- pull some obscure rule out of the rule book, then throw it at the teams at the least expected moment...GOTCHA!

I'm not sure if they think this garners more respect, helps them control the games or is suposed to impress the teams with their uncanny knowledge of the rules. It's something you would rarely see from an experienced official.

Rules are rules and it is important for an umpire to know them. But knowing the rules is just part of the equation. For all the potential pitfalls of an umpire not knowing a specific rule, I see just as many problems pop up and conflicts arise not from rules issues, but from poor game management techniques.

Game management is something that comes from training and experience. It is important to know not only the rule, but also the spirit and itent of the rule. Game management is often a case of ruling with the book, not by the book.

You want every rule in the book enforced to the letter. Okay...get ready for along and frustrating afternoon! ?

First, let's line up all of your player to see if they are in perfect compliance with all the uniform rules. Are all of your team's undershirts a perfect match? Better hope so, because if you can't correct it your players aren't playing and you are going to forfeit. And the numbers on the uniforms better be at least six inches high. If they're 5.99 inches tall, you're not playing.

Hey, coach- that cell phone clipped to your belt is illegal, your hat is not approved headwear, and if you're wearing sandals, you're never going to step foot onto the field. And you better keep yourself inside that coach's box.

Now let's check your bats. Oops. The grip only extends 9.5 inches from the knob, not the required ten. Illegal bat!

Once the game starts- if it ever gets started!- you better hope that your runners foot doesn't come 1/4" off the base as she shuffles her feet to get in position to start her lead. We're going to have to call her out for not maintaing contact.

Illegal pitches? Get ready for fun because we're going to have a few dozen of them today!

Between all the delays, time outs, explanations and standing around, if we're lucky we might play an inning or two of softball before the clock runs out.

 

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Nice one, bretman!

Good point with entertaining examples. ?(I give it a 42, but I can't dance to it.) ?

 

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3 questions...

1) We played a game Saturday and our pitcher hit a girl in the foot. The girl saw the pitch coming and did not try to move. The umpire gave her the base and we asked him if she had tried to get out of the way. He said it was a judgment call and that it was tough to call. We disagreed but ended up letting it go. Is that really a judgment call?

2) One of our girls slid into home on a play where the catcher had both feet on the 3rd base line, without the ball. Shortly after our girl slid into her (short of the plate) she caught the ball and tagged our runner. The same umpire called her out and when I asked him for a ruling on blocking the line, he ignored me. Was my thinking correct?

3) We had runners on first and second with one out. On the dropped third strike, I had both base runners stealing and the batter running to first. The ump (same one) waited until the got the batter out at first before calling her out (we didn' tell her to run, she just did it). Wasn't she out with first occupied?

 

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in my understanding

1) is definitely a judgement call on whethere he felt the batter made an attempt or had time to make an attempt to get away from the pitch.

2) tough call without seeing it, was there no opportunity to get to the plate at all? if so, yes I would agree interference, but again this is a judgement call

3) batter was out because first base was occupied.

 

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1) Agree with agoch. The batter's effort to avoid the pitch is 100% umpire judgment. No effort = no base award.

From a practical standpoint, on a pitch in the dirt you have to give the batter every benefit of the doubt. The pitcher has obviously erred and a batter isn't expected to predict which way a pitch is going to bounce. Pretty much any movement or flich is going to qualify as "an effort" to avoid the pitch. But if she stands there like a statue and just watches the ball, that batter is likely not getting the base.

2) If the catcher was blocking the plate without the ball, and the runner contacted her at that point, then this was probably obstruction (not interference). If the obstructed runner is tagged out after the contact, the ball becomes dead and the runner is awarded the base.

To just ignore you is not a good way for an umpire to handle a question from a coach- unless, maybe, if you were just yelling your question from the dugout or the field. You need to ask for "time", wait until it is granted, then approach the umpire with your question. Any umpire should be willing to answer your questions about any play. But, on most any play, there might be a hundred different people yelling a hundred different things from a hundred different places. If you have a legitimate question, you need to call "time" and sort it out with the umpire one-on-one.

3) Again, agree with agoch. Batter is out the instant strike three is called. If she runs, the umpire should emphatically announce, "Batter out! Batter out!", while giving the "hammer/fist" out signal.

By rule, on an uncaught third strike there is no penalty if a batter takes off running when she is not entitled to. The defense has some responsibility to know the circumstances and to not play on the retired runner. Of course, the ball remains live and the advance by the other runners is perfectly legal.