Umpire's Decision

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During a sectional final game yesterday when my dd was pitching, she asked the plate ump for a new ball. The one that she had was slippery and she didn't like the feel of it. He told her that she could not switch balls. It wasn't a case of the ball being wet or muddy. There were many foul balls throughout the game so at least 2-3 game balls were in rotation and it was the only time that she asked to switch balls. She just ended up rubbing it in the dirt and then on her uniform. Has anyone had this happen before?

 

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I believe that there is a rule (silly one) that says you can only get a new ball after the ball is put into play. I am sure you will get more precise info than I can provide.

 

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This is addressed in the rule book (Ball Rotation, Rule 6-5).

ART. 1 . . . The pitcher has a choice of balls at the start of each half inning unless both balls do not get put into play. In that case, the pitcher in the bottom of the first inning must throw the unused ball. Thereafter, the ball in play should be returned to the 16-foot circle after every half inning.
ART. 2 . . . The pitcher may request the other ball before throwing a warm-up pitch by giving the ball in her possession to the plate umpire, the pitcher has now made a choice and must pitch that ball until such time as the ball goes out of play or becomes blocked.

On the surface, it does sound kind of silly. But usually when you have a silly sounding rule, the rule was put into place to address some conceivably possible game situation that someone has complained about somewhere along the line.

Some of the reasoning I've heard for having this rule:

- To avoid game delays by repeated requests for a different ball.

- To avoid complaints of unfairness by the defense ("They got to pitch a new/used ball but we didn't").

- To avoid complaints of unfairness by the offense ("They got to hit a new/used ball but we didn't").

Also, I'm surprised that the umpire knew and enforced this somewhat obscure rule, but didn't say anything when the pitcher purposely rubbed the ball in the dirt! That can be ruled as purposely placing a foreign substance on the ball and result in an illegal pitch.

 

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Also, I'm surprised that the umpire knew and enforced this somewhat obscure rule, but didn't say anything when the pitcher purposely rubbed the ball in the dirt! That can be ruled as purposely placing a foreign substance on the ball and result in an illegal pitch.

I was thinking exactly same thing btw!

 

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Thanks for the info. With all of the foul balls going out of play this season, I hadn't seen an umpire deny a pitcher's request for a different ball when putting one back in play before. I'll also have to ask her whether she rubbed it in the dirt because I thought she did and I didn't know it was illegal.

 

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This gets interesting when it's raining...

 

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Wet conditions introduce another factor. Generally, an umpire can replace a ball anytime it becomes unplayable. An obvious example would be if the ball is damaged (torn cover, loose threads, etc.). A ball that is so wet it compromises the pitcher's grip could be an example of a ball that is unplayable.

If we have wet conditions, I'll try to make sure that we have a good supply of dry balls on hand and someone with a towel nearby to keep the extra game balls wiped off. I'll also give a little more leeway on a pitcher wanting another ball if it's too wet, as "too wet" in my judgment can mean "unplayable".

 

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My DD played in plenty of downpours during her career ... and for some reason, it always seemed like it was coming down the hardest when she was pitching and not when her team was hitting! Anyhow, I told her from Day 1 that if it was raining hard, and the ball came back wet to her to ask for a new ball every pitch if she needed to. A couple of times they actually ended up stopping the game after she asked for a dry ball for about the 10th straight pitch, and a couple of times the rain let up before the inning was over probably helped by the fact that all the changes in and drying of the balls slowed down the inning.

At Eastern Nationals last year, we had a similar situation with the team we were coaching ... absolute downpour but great draining fields so the game kept going, but our pitcher was having a heck of a time getting a grip on the ball, so I called timeout to go out and talk to her to tell her to ask for a new ball every pitch if she needed to, to give her a towel to dry her hand off in between pitches, and honestly to buy a little time for the rain to pass. At one point, the umpire let everyone know that he was getting tired of all of the asking for new balls, and I let him know between innings that if it kept raining the hard and the ball was that wet, that she had every right to do it and that I didn't think our pitcher deserved any attitude from him about it. He actually apologized to me ... of course when we came up to bat, the rain had stopped.

 

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Most of the times I've had problems with the balls getting wet was when we had good dry field conditions, but it was either an early morning game and there was dew in the outfield grass, or we had rain earlier and the grass was still wet.

It might be more of an issue in a timed game, but asking for a new ball on every pitch can be an excessive delay of the game. I can only think of one time where a pitcher asked me for a new ball several pitches in a row. Finally, I refused her request. Her coach had an issue with that. All I could tell him was that if we are going to play in the rain, then you are just going to have to expect that the ball will be wet. The alternative is suspending the game. If it's so wet that a pitcher needs a new ball on every pitch, then maybe the conditions are bad enough that we shouldn't be playing.

 

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Bretman ... I agree with you 99% of the time on here, and I also agree with your comment that if the pitcher needs a new ball every pitch that the conditions are probably bad enough they shouldn't be playing, but I know that I have coached and I am sure you have umpired in downpour situations where the game wasn't stopped and the ball was getting wet every pitch, and there is just no way that anyone can expect a pitcher to throw a ball that she can't grip because it's too wet ... really???? To do so is making a travesty of the game in my opinion, as well as making it more unsafe. If you were to refuse that request, I am going to have an issue with you too and I would take it to the TD if I had to if it was a tournament. I am more than willing to sit in the dugout and towel off every ball for my pitcher or the opposing one for that matter. I have coached well over 1000 games in my life and have never been thrown out of one, but a refusal by an umpire to put in play a ball that a pitcher can actually grip just might end up being the first. Part of the issue is admittedly that I hate time limits and the stupid things it makes some coaches and umpires do.

 

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I'll still say that if the ball is getting too wet to grip after one pitch, then this is probably a perfect example of a game that should be stopped by rain. If it's really raining that bad, isn't a dry ball from the umpire or the bench going to get just about as wet from being thrown in and handled by the pitcher as it would on one pitch by the pitcher?

If you want to play in the rain, then you're just going to have to expect a wet ball. If you can't deal with that, then we shouldn't be playing in those conditions.

Don't worry about "getting tossed"...if it's ever raining that bad I'll have suspended the game long before it becomes an issue!