What rules if any govern excessive hit by pitches?

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Jun 19, 2016
858
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All of this talk about facrmasks
I really do not understand the thought of it being stupid not wearing one in the IF. I am a fan of all pitchers and 3B wearing them but MIF's rarely have the same issues. If MIF's have to wear them why make it optional in the OF? Some of the worst hops I have seen have been in the grass and the only time my DD took one anywhere around her face was in the OF on a bad hop.

To the OP I hinestly do nt think it is th eumpires place to force the change. I know it stinks but wild pitchers are part of the game. If it was intentional toss her but if she is young and learning to pitch it really isnt fair to the pitcher. How will she improve?
I watch a ton of youth softball and the only ones I have seen take it the face is middle infielders on bad hops and an outfielder who lost the ball in the son. The outfielder is the only one that needed medical attention. A few stitches and she was ready to go. My DD will always wear her mask when she is in the circle. Even if it is not common we don't want that one random hit to hurt her.
 
Feb 20, 2020
377
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Our HS league says everyone wears masks. Not the COVID ones, but protective masks. Our club coach requires the same.

The HBP issue isn't as much a rules question as a safety one. An ump has a responsibility to keep players safe, and it's not reasonable to allow a pitcher to continually hit other players, nor is it reasonable that a coach keep putting batters up there to get hit. At some point -- just like a muddy field -- it becomes a safety issue, and that is at an ump's discretion.

Usually we've got a 5 HBP and the pitcher is ejected. If I were an ump, and a pitcher kept hitting batters, I'd tell the opposing coach to pull her or you're calling the game a forfeit because his team is intentionally injuring other players.
 
Apr 30, 2018
349
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The HBP issue isn't as much a rules question as a safety one. An ump has a responsibility to keep players safe

The ump talked with me after the game in the parking lot and that was his justification. At 5 of the first 9 batters it was just a matter of time until she drilled someone on a hard spot like an ankle, knee, elbow, etc. We did get lucky that all the girls got hit in meaty areas that should heal quicker.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk
 
May 11, 2014
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Sorta different topic but I have seen an umpire(player kept throwing the bat, hitting the umpire on every swing), slide the catcher over into the opposite batters box and called the player out on strikes. Could the umpire/coach slide the batter to the far side of the box and just call balls till the coach changed pitchers?
 
Jun 19, 2016
858
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My DD'S coach always jokes to the girls "we buy the good helmets" when they move out of the way of a pitch that would have got them in the helmet.... especially when it it one of the fast girls.
 
Sep 13, 2020
63
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Sounds like it's a half serious joke ... while my DDs have been clocked in the helmet, I would never ask them to let it happen.
 
May 16, 2012
97
18
Missouri
Our HS league says everyone wears masks. Not the COVID ones, but protective masks. Our club coach requires the same.

The HBP issue isn't as much a rules question as a safety one. An ump has a responsibility to keep players safe, and it's not reasonable to allow a pitcher to continually hit other players, nor is it reasonable that a coach keep putting batters up there to get hit. At some point -- just like a muddy field -- it becomes a safety issue, and that is at an ump's discretion.

Usually we've got a 5 HBP and the pitcher is ejected. If I were an ump, and a pitcher kept hitting batters, I'd tell the opposing coach to pull her or you're calling the game a forfeit because his team is intentionally injuring other players.
And you would be wrong.
 
Feb 20, 2020
377
63
And you would be wrong.

You think it’s okay for a pitcher with no control to continually hit other players with the ball? 50 mph from 43 feet away? What other recourse would an ump have than stop the game? And should a coach, seeing the opposing pitcher keep hitting his players, keep sending them out?
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Our HS league says everyone wears masks. Not the COVID ones, but protective masks. Our club coach requires the same.

The HBP issue isn't as much a rules question as a safety one. An ump has a responsibility to keep players safe, and it's not reasonable to allow a pitcher to continually hit other players, nor is it reasonable that a coach keep putting batters up there to get hit. At some point -- just like a muddy field -- it becomes a safety issue, and that is at an ump's discretion.

Usually we've got a 5 HBP and the pitcher is ejected. If I were an ump, and a pitcher kept hitting batters, I'd tell the opposing coach to pull her or you're calling the game a forfeit because his team is intentionally injuring other players.

Sorry, but this is not the case and as an umpire, this is not the correct actions to follow. Safe field - which is in the responsibility of the umpire in the rule book - versus lots of HBP (unless intentional) is not the same thing. There is a prescribed penalty for HBP - you get a base. I woudl be appropriately raked over the coals by any decent UIC if I tried to pull this.

There are ways to handle it (see my previous response above). I have never got beyond what I put above without the coach getting the message - I cannot command the coach to change his pitcher in these circumstances. I am not ejecting a pitcher because she is unskilled and some coach doesn't pull her. And it is never getting to a forfeit stage even if that was an option.
 
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