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YOU MAKE THE CALL - Vol. 6
Question (All Divisions)– R3 with one out. The batter (BR) swings at the pitch and tips the catchers glove, but hits a fly ball that is caught. R3 tags up and advances safely to home and scores. The umpire calls time and places BR at 1st and puts R3 back on 3rd. The offensive manager complains that he is losing out on a run. What should the umpire do? Answer Rule 6.08 c covers catcher’s interference. On catcher’s interference, the umpire should point at the interference and verbalize “that’s interference” at the time it occurs. The ball remains alive and in play. At the conclusion of the play if the batter runner and all other runners advance at least one base safely, the interference is disregarded. If not, then the batter is awarded 1st base and all other runners are returned to their base, or the next base if forced to advance. If runners were stealing on the pitch in JR/Sr/Big League (7.04c) they would be awarded their advance base. In this play, BR did not reach first base so the umpire enforced the interference penalty correctly placing BR at 1st and returning R3. At the conclusion of the play, the offensive manager has an option to accept the result of the play or the interference penalty. In this case, the manager would probably accept the play with R3 scoring and BR put out for the 2nd out of the inning. The umpire is not obligated to offer the option to the manager. The manager needs to exercise the option on his own initiative, but as long as he expresses a desire to accept the play the umpire should explain the options to him so that he can make a decision. He only gets an option if the interference penalty has to be enforced. YOU MAKE THE CALL - Vol. 5 Question (All Divisions) - Runners at 1st (R1) and 3rd (R3) with two outs. Batter hits a slow roller towards 2nd base. The 2nd baseman fields the ball in the baseline about 6 feet from 2nd base. R1 stops, begins to retreat and the second baseman tags him with the ball. The plate umpire rules that R3 scored before the 3rd out was made on the tag play and tells the scorekeeper to score the run. Is the umpire correct? Answer Rule 4.09 covers when a team scores, and the 3 exceptions to when a team scores. 4.09 (a) says “a run does not score if a runner advances to home plate on a play in which the third out is made (1) by the batter runner before reaching first base; (2) by any runner being forced out; or (3) by a preceding runner who is declared out because that runner failed to touch one of the bases (appeal play).” All other situations are determined on the timing of whether the runner passed home plate before the third out was made. The umpire erred in his decision and the run should not score. Although the 3rd out was made on a tag after R3 crossed the plate, this is still a force out. R1 was forced to advance when the batter became a runner by hitting the ball. Force Play is defined in rule 2.00 as “a play in which a runner legally loses the right to occupy a base by reason of the batter becoming a runner.” The 2nd baseman tagging the runner instead of tagging the base doesn’t change the fact that this is a force play. You Make The Call - Vol. 4 Situation: (Little League Majors) – Bases are loaded with no outs, and the runner on 1st (R1) leaves early. ... You Make The Call - Vol. 3 Situation: (Jr/Sr/Big League) - Runner at 1st (R1) with no outs. Hit and run play, so R1 is running on ... YOU Make The Call! (Vol. 1 & 2) From time to time, we will test your knowledge of the rulebook in our new "You Make The Call" section. We will provide you with a hypothetical situation, and you can see if your interpretation of the rules is correct. We have answered the rule situations as accurately as possible based on our understanding of the rules and their interpretation. None of the information presented represents official rulings or interpretations of Little League Baseball, Inc. Situation 1 Senior League Baseball - Two outs, runner on second, top of the 7th inning with the home team ahead 2-1. The pitcher balks, which is called by the umpire, but completes the pitch. The batter singles to center field and the center fielder throws out the runner from second at the plate to apparently end the game. The visiting team manager however, informs the umpire that he wants to accept the balk penalty and disregard the play putting the runner at third base and bringing his batter back to bat. What is your ruling? Answer to Situation 1 The rule reference is 8.05, specifically the section on Junior/Senior/Big League Penalty. When a balk occurs, the ball is dead (although not immediately if the pitcher pitches or throws to a base). If the batter-runner advances at least one base safely as a result of a hit, an error, a base on balls, hit batsman or otherwise, and all other base-runners advance at least one base safely, the play proceeds without reference to the balk. The batter singled, and the runner at second advanced safely to third. Even though he was thrown out at home, the play stands. The offensive manager does not have the option to disregard the play and have the balk enforced. The game is over and the home team wins. Little League (Jr/Sr/Big League) uses the same penalty and interpretation on balks as professional baseball. Under high school rules, the ball is immediately dead on a balk and no play can occur. In the above situation the pro and LL rule seems unfair, but it is written this way so as not to deprive the offense of an opportunity because the defense violated a rule. If the batter hit a home run, it would stand in LL and pro ball, but would be disregarded in high school ball. Situation 2 All levels except Big League – In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the home team manager sends Joey in to pinch hit for Billy, his starting shortstop. Joey hits a double, but twists his ankle sliding into 2nd base. The manager substitutes David for Joey. David plays the next two innings defensively and bats once, satisfying his minimum play requirement. In the 5th inning the manager wants to re-enter his starter, Billy. Should you allow this substitution? Answer to Situation 2 The rule reference is 3.03. Re-entering Billy is an illegal substitution under regular season rules and must not be allowed. The rule states that a starter can re-enter the game once in any position in the lineup provided 1) his or her substitute has completed one time at bat and; 2) has played defensively for 6 consecutive outs. Billy’s substitute was Joey who batted once but did not play defensively at all. David is not Billy’s substitute, so the fact that he met the requirement has no bearing on Billy’s eligibility to re-enter. Joey cannot re-enter either, even assuming he was cleared medically, as he was not a starter. The only way that Billy could re-enter the game is if his team was out of eligible substitutes and could not field 9 players due to illness, injury, or ejection of another player. In that case, the opposing manager selects the player who will re-enter. Are you wondering why this rule is written this way? The reason is to prevent a manager from manipulating his substitutions and mandatory play requirements by having a player fake an injury or illness. The manager might want Joey to hit, but not play defensively because he isn’t very good at fielding or throwing. It seems an unlikely scenario, but it has been tried so the re-entry rule was written this way to eliminate any advantage for an adult to behave this way. |
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