stealing home.....safety concern!

[SMc4SMc]

coachjwb, I'd like to suggest your HR signal be called
"The Great Bambino", and it can be coded with his jersey#, year of the HR, etc. - oh man I wanted to post the pic but couldn't get it on another thread.

Shane, it's one of the riskiest plays out there, and I would never insult thoughtful concern on examining any aspect of the game to make sure it's at its best.

*Almost any organized game played there's 1 or 2 waivers already in play.*

Pray

Inherent risk, teach them well, waivers signed and filed, Lace 'em.

Pray.

 

[Pacerdad57]

If you're trying a suicide squeeze you had better make sure the runner and batter are on the same page or the whole attempt is pointless......

 

[josie]

My apology in advance, but I realize many of us have sons who play baseball. Looking to pick your brains a little bit. My son is at the 13U level and I was watching one of his games recently. The head coach, who is also the 3rd base coach, decides to have his runner on third attempt a steal of home. At this level in baseball there are lead-offs. My son was not the runner. What causes me concern is the batter is in the box with 2 strikes. My son was not the batter. The runner comes barreling into home with no advance warning to the hitter. The hitter could of easily swung and caused great harm to our runner. I worry that at some point my son will either be the batter or runner. I have tried to justify this course of action, the coach sending the runner and putting him in great danger, and I have not come up with any legitimate explanation. Thoughts? Am I missing something? Should I check with the runners family and find out if they spoke with the coach?

Here is my opinion. This happened to my son as the runner on 3rd base when he was on a high school JV team. (I know this is softball forum) I agree about the great danger. The kid at bat in my scenario wasn't particularly a strong player and often missed signs. This was the coach's first year of coaching. I didn't have to say anything to him. Several dads of other players made their point to him (in not a very nice way) and I think the coach regretted his decision. It was not a close game (we were up by 6 or 7) It was extremely dangerous and fortunately the pitch was way outside so the batter did not swing. Instead he stood in the box (right handed hitter) and couldn't figure out what was going on and they almost collided. Thanked the Good Lord he did not swing. I get nervous every time I see something like that. Bad decision, especially with two strikes already on the batter and he is going to protect the plate.

 

[Shane]

What does any of this have to do with softball?

Was just looking to pick the brains of folks who spend a lot of time at the ballpark. No worries backstop09, I will get back on point. : )

 

[Shane]

Here is my opinion. This happened to my son as the runner on 3rd base when he was on a high school JV team. (I know this is softball forum) I agree about the great danger. The kid at bat in my scenario wasn't particularly a strong player and often missed signs. This was the coach's first year of coaching. I didn't have to say anything to him. Several dads of other players made their point to him (in not a very nice way) and I think the coach regretted his decision. It was not a close game (we were up by 6 or 7) It was extremely dangerous and fortunately the pitch was way outside so the batter did not swing. Instead he stood in the box (right handed hitter) and couldn't figure out what was going on and they almost collided. Thanked the Good Lord he did not swing. I get nervous every time I see something like that. Bad decision, especially with two strikes already on the batter and he is going to protect the plate.

Those were my thoughts exactly Josie. There is danger in the game, understood, I just left the park thinking the coach's decision was reckless in nature and only increased the chance of runner suffering a serious injury.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

... The head coach, who is also the 3rd base coach, decides to have his runner on third attempt a steal of home. At this level in baseball there are lead-offs. My son was not the runner. What causes me concern is the batter is in the box with 2 strikes. My son was not the batter. The runner comes barreling into home with no advance warning to the hitter. The hitter could of easily swung and caused great harm to our runner. ...

What was the count? 2 strikes is only part of the story. If the count was 0-2 or 1-2, the coach may have known the pitch was going to be wasted (i.e. not hittable). I agree it would be very dangerous on a 2-2 or 3-2 count.

Regardless, the hitter should still be aware of the situation as they need to stay out of the way (i.e. move) of the defense making a play on the runner or it will be interference.

 

[daboss]

In lue of some posts since my first on this subject I feel the need to share one more thing. Years ago while playing baseball myself we had an "incident" where a batter missed the sign and took a huge cut at a ball while the runner advanced to steal home. Like indicated by so many, it was a close call that could have been tragic. The batter was in trouble numerous times for missing signs and spent many practices running for his mistakes. After this incident and the game was over, the player that stole home confronted this guy in the parking lot and let's just say there were many witnesses to how light this guy got on his feet with the other holding the jersey clenched in his fists under his chin and making sure this never would happen again. Trust me, many of us learned a lesson that day. I was a small guy then. There's no way I wanted to be "lifted" in this maner.

My point is; we didn't run to mommy. There are some things that the kids will work out on their own. I refer to them as "need to know" moments. Some times there are certain things we simply don't need to know. Very effective and still a life lesson. I do not condone violence. However, I don't recall this guy or anyone else on the team missing a sign of any kind for the rest of our time together. A teaching moment that has lasted a life time.