Question about field issues:

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OK silly question but, can a game be stopped to take care of a field issue?

During a game there was an issue with a large hole being in the pitching circle in the path of the pitchers drag foot. Pitchers from both teams were having trouble with the issue. Between pitches the pitcher would try to fill the hole in and between innings the coach, pitchers and infielders would try to cover hole with the dry dirt.

There were two games (double-header) on the field and between games field crew brought out a bucket of water and dirt (and shovel/rake and other field tools) and fixed the hole and it did remedy the problem.

I have never seen this done but was wondering if the game could have been stopped to fix the issue?

 

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I actually had an issue like this during my tournament this past weekend. I was walking past a field and noticed that the pitcher was having an issue with a hole that had developed. I told her coach to let the umpire know of the issue and to either have our crew take care of it or if the umpire felt the coaches could remedy it then they could.

As a TD I want the girls to be safe and play their best. If there is something wrong we will make it right.

 

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I seen games stopped before to repair extremely deep holes around the plate and pitching rubber.

 

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i saw a team stop a game a couple of years back, pitcher was having trouble with drag foot, field crew ended up digging up a rock about the size of a basketball..lol... pdad7

 

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it happened this year at the womens college world series too

 

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One of the players on the team I help coach has an older dd, who wound up having 10 surgeries on her ankle because the mound condition was not addressed. The umpire told her there was nothing he could do about it and she should just keep pitching. I'm sure hind sight being 20/20, she should have stopped pitching.

We had an issue with a mound up in Findlay for ASA States and the TD had the field crew come over an address the problem right away. Had a mound bothering one of our pitchers this weekend at Kettering fields in Dayton. She can get pretty picky sometimes but when I stopped to look at the mound after coaching first base, I noticed a inch wide and about two foot long piece of metal with bolts on the ends about two feet in front of the pitching plate. The piece was pretty flat and was not bothering their pitcher or our other two pitchers. Played on the same field on Sunday and the bar was gone, not really sure why it was there.

 

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Thanks for the responses everyone. I missed seeing it on the world series and injury did seem to be a concern, but I don't think anyone knew that it could be addressed during game time.

As usual I knew where to turn for answers. Thanks again.

 

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One of the players on the team I help coach has an older dd, who wound up having 10 surgeries on her ankle because the mound condition was not addressed. The umpire told her there was nothing he could do about it and she should just keep pitching. I'm sure hind sight being 20/20, she should have stopped pitching.

We had an issue with a mound up in Findlay for ASA States and the TD had the field crew come over an address the problem right away. Had a mound bothering one of our pitchers this weekend at Kettering fields in Dayton. She can get pretty picky sometimes but when I stopped to look at the mound after coaching first base, I noticed a inch wide and about two foot long piece of metal with bolts on the ends about two feet in front of the pitching plate. The piece was pretty flat and was not bothering their pitcher or our other two pitchers. Played on the same field on Sunday and the bar was gone, not really sure why it was there.

We saw the same thing and insisted they be removed. They were setups for hollywood style pitching rubbers at 40'. It didn't bother one pitcher but my taller one had problems. They were very good about removing them and I noticed several were lying around the concession stand the next morning. As a coach you have a right to insist the fields are safe for all players and the umpires can't or shouldn't make anyone play on an unsafe field.

 

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During our HS season, we have stopped play during a few games to add some mound clay, but those games are obviously not timed. I would think during pool play if it is a big issue, the umpire could stop the clock to get the field fixed.

 

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@D-Gals:

Yes, in travel ball there is always that tension about the clock running versus the field conditions. Assuming it is in the discretion of the umpire to stop the clock (and I really don't know the answer to that), that would appear to me to be the best route. That way, safety and competition are still achieved. Of course, the tournament schedule may be seriously affected by a long stoppage on one field to correct the field conditions. . . .

 

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What about stopping a championship game after 2 innings to move the rubber back? Field was used for 14U games earlier, but had a 16U semi played on it and nobody realized it was at 40' until 16U championship game had started.

May or may not have had bearing on the outcome of the game, but did delay the game 25 minutes to move rubber and re-chalk circle.

Just curious...any rule on this? Heard one of the coaches trying to make a point that the game had started so it should stay. Field ump's stance was that it can be moved as soon as it is realized.

 

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yes you change it once it is noticed to be wrong. I think the rule should be play a full inning on it then change it after the inning is complete. This way it is fair for both teams. If home team goes out for first inning, pitcher knows its at 40ft but does not say anything gets the batters out in order 1,2,3 then says to umpire or the coach the rubber is 40ft, now they move it to 43ft for the away team to pitch from. That seems to me to be an unfair advantage.

 

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We played on a diamond in Kettering with the metal sticking out of the ground in the pitchers circle. I was surprised that the umpire just told the pitchers to work around it and refused to stop the clock for the problem to be fixed. They ended up putting the mushroom caps on the metal rod.
I guess I'm used to umpires insisting (without penalty to either team) that the field conditions be made safe and in my opinion - if umpires are telling girls to remove their jewelry (as some did at Kettering), they should be removing the metal from the playing field.

 

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yes you change it once it is noticed to be wrong. I think the rule should be play a full inning on it then change it after the inning is complete. This way it is fair for both teams. If home team goes out for first inning, pitcher knows its at 40ft but does not say anything gets the batters out in order 1,2,3 then says to umpire or the coach the rubber is 40ft, now they move it to 43ft for the away team to pitch from. That seems to me to be an unfair advantage.

I believe it was between bottom of 2 & top of 3 when he noticed it....therefore was fair for both teams in that respect. Thanks for the input and clarification on the rule.