Rule Question - A ball that is just not right

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Just curious... in a game yesterday, a ball was hit foul into brush next to the field. The ball that was retrieved happened not to be one of the game balls, but a ball from a previous game that had been sitting in the brush for days or weeks, soaking up the wonderful Northeast Ohio weather.

This ball eventually made it into play.

My dd sensed that there was something wrong with the ball, but did not quite know what, and used it. Ended up that both pitchers used the ball for an entire inning. Other than that (and one pitch that my dd threw that rolled from the pitchers mound, which I thought was very strange), it ended up being a non-eventful inning, no one scoring on either side.

When I asked my dd about this after the game, she said that the umpire said that in order to change the ball out, it had to be hit out of play first. Is there a specific rule that governs this situation? And, if this condition is found mid-way through an inning, do both pitchers need to play with the "altered" ball?

 

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Yes, there really are rules covering ball rotation throughout the game.

Basically, at the beginning of each half-inning as she starts her warm-up throws, the pitcher may request to change the ball if she does not like the one she has. She isn't allowed to hold both balls and compare them to decide which one she likes best. If she requests a new ball, she has to use that one. Once she makes her choice, she is committed to using that ball until it goes out of play and is replaced by another one.

This might all sound a little "over-the-top" but, as with most rules, it's something that evolved along with the game. It prevents unnecessay delays by the pitcher by repeatedly requesting a change of the ball and eliminates any perceived advantage by one pitcher getting a "better" ball than the other, as there is some randomness as to which ball will be put back into play.

But...and this is a big "but"...if one of the balls tossed back into the game is obviously not one of the game balls we started with, it would be entirely within the umpire's power to toss it out. That would be the case here, or if a ball was damaged or if a non-regulation ball was thrown back in.

The umpire also has the discretion to change out the ball if weather conditions warrant, such as when playing on a wet field or rainy day.

In your case, if the "old" ball was obviously not one of the game balls, the umpire should have got rid of it, not forced the pitchers to keep using it under the standard "ball rotation" guidelines.

Personally, when a ball goes out of play I prefer that it comes back in the game through me, rather than being tossed directly back to a player. I've had coaches act like I'm being too picky when doing this, but it allows me to inspect the ball to make sure it hasn't been damaged, it's one of our game balls or it's a regulation ball in good condition.

 

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Seen many college pitchers toss a ball back in the middle of an inning. If they get a ball with torn seams or a cut (missed by the ump or catcher), they switch balls immediately - even in the middle of an at-bat. Returned foul balls always went through the plate ump. During rain, the ump kept the balls fairly dry by automatically rotating them through his ball bag every few pitches. A ball change should not slow the game down.

 

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Thanks bretman!!