Skipped batter

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Apr 28, 2015
81
18
I have a rules question. Our rules for the league clearly state that if a batter cannot bat for any reason they may be skipped without penalty but may not re-enter the lineup.
3rd inning the opposing team score keeper comes over and tells me 5th batter is skipped due to illness. This was 5 pitches into the 6th batter batting in her place. I say ok and cross her out in that spot.
5th inning they are on a comeback and here comes the original 5th batter up to bat. I wait til at bat is over. She was hit by pitch to drive in a run. And approach umpire to contest that she was skipped and re-entered and that is not allowed. They batted out of order and it should be third out of inning. He told me that he had no knowledge of batter being skipped and he would allow the at bat. I told him that it was their job to tell him of lineup change, not mine. And he told me again that he had no knowledge of it so he is allowing it. I asked “allowing them to cheat” and all he said is he had no knowledge.
Did I handle that properly? How could I have handled it differently? Seems to me that because they didn’t tell him (I was not aware that they didn’t tell him) they were about to cheat. Like two wrongs made a right. I’d like to know how to handle this in the future. Thanks.


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Apr 28, 2015
81
18
Yes, it is the local league rule clearly stated in the rules packet. Anything not stated in rules packet is USA rules


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marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
I have a rules question. Our rules for the league clearly state that if a batter cannot bat for any reason they may be skipped without penalty but may not re-enter the lineup.
3rd inning the opposing team score keeper comes over and tells me 5th batter is skipped due to illness. This was 5 pitches into the 6th batter batting in her place. I say ok and cross her out in that spot.
5th inning they are on a comeback and here comes the original 5th batter up to bat. I wait til at bat is over. She was hit by pitch to drive in a run. And approach umpire to contest that she was skipped and re-entered and that is not allowed. They batted out of order and it should be third out of inning. He told me that he had no knowledge of batter being skipped and he would allow the at bat. I told him that it was their job to tell him of lineup change, not mine. And he told me again that he had no knowledge of it so he is allowing it. I asked “allowing them to cheat” and all he said is he had no knowledge.
Did I handle that properly? How could I have handled it differently? Seems to me that because they didn’t tell him (I was not aware that they didn’t tell him) they were about to cheat. Like two wrongs made a right. I’d like to know how to handle this in the future. Thanks.

Stupid made up rec rules. Whatever....

Anyway, for next time: Only take lineup changes communicated from and through the umpire.

The umpire in this case is quite correct, if they didn't tell him, he didn't know so it didn't happen.
 
Jun 4, 2019
134
43
I was at a TB game this spring where a player showed up at the end of the game. she was permitted to magically come in and be the 11th batter. Batted 10 for 3 innings and 11 the final inning.

The new player was listed nowhere on the lineup card.

I asked the umps wtf was going on and they said it was allowed. It was then I decided to stop worrying too much about lineups in these games.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Quick tangent ... this is why I always ask for line ups. I don’t care if it is “just a” league night/practice game/10u/JV/the B-team/Aunt Mary’s Birthday. If the teams both say they don’t want to provide me one, I let them know I won’t address any line up concerns.

Ultimately, yeah ... they got one over on you.
 
Apr 28, 2019
1,423
83
I have a rules question. Our rules for the league clearly state that if a batter cannot bat for any reason they may be skipped without penalty but may not re-enter the lineup.
3rd inning the opposing team score keeper comes over and tells me 5th batter is skipped due to illness. This was 5 pitches into the 6th batter batting in her place. I say ok and cross her out in that spot.
5th inning they are on a comeback and here comes the original 5th batter up to bat. I wait til at bat is over. She was hit by pitch to drive in a run. And approach umpire to contest that she was skipped and re-entered and that is not allowed. They batted out of order and it should be third out of inning. He told me that he had no knowledge of batter being skipped and he would allow the at bat. I told him that it was their job to tell him of lineup change, not mine. And he told me again that he had no knowledge of it so he is allowing it. I asked “allowing them to cheat” and all he said is he had no knowledge.
Did I handle that properly? How could I have handled it differently? Seems to me that because they didn’t tell him (I was not aware that they didn’t tell him) they were about to cheat. Like two wrongs made a right. I’d like to know how to handle this in the future. Thanks.


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You should have approached the umpire before the player that reentered the game had her at bat. I would have called out the other coach for a meeting with the ump and pointed out what you explained.
It’s much easier to head-off a situation before it happens than try and change one after it occurs.
 
Jan 27, 2019
141
28
You should have approached the umpire before the player that reentered the game had her at bat. I would have called out the other coach for a meeting with the ump and pointed out what you explained.
It’s much easier to head-off a situation before it happens than try and change one after it occurs.
Likely waited for the improper batter to reach base, then instead of replacing the improper batter you have an out.
 
Aug 1, 2019
195
43
South Carolina
3rd inning the opposing team score keeper comes over and tells me 5th batter is skipped due to illness. This was 5 pitches into the 6th batter batting in her place. I say ok and cross her out in that spot.

You should have waited until the 6th batter completed her at bat, and then appeal a Batting out of Order violation. I don't know what your house rules say when a batter gets skipped, but that's something that the coach is supposed to inform the umpire so that the umpire, not the scorekeeper, informs the opposing coach. This is a change to the batting order that must be officially announced to the plate umpire. You had a chance to get an out here since the 6th batter batted out of turn.

But since you simply accepted the change from the scorekeeper without challenging the formal requirement of the announcement to the plate umpire, you were complicit in the violation. Not only that, as you quickly learned here, there was nothing that could be done later in the game when the 5th batter re-entered the lineup. If the umpire isn't informed--either by the batter's coach when it happens or by the opposing coach as an out of order violation--there's no way for him/her to know that the batter was skipped. So expecting the umpire to do something after the fact is really not feasible.
 

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