Delaying play to run clock time off

[HunterMO]

DD's team played in a tournament two weekends ago where something I hadn't seen done before happened. As the home team, DD's team was down one run, 2 outs, no runners, with the #10 hitter coming to the plate. They were coming up on time. The girls had only scored one run earlier that inning and the other team suddenly decides to switch pitchers. And took their time doing it. Taking all allowed warmup pitches (at a slow place). All of the pitches were change ups, nothing fast. DD's HC knows the clock is about to expire.

So, while the pitcher is warming up, he calls over the umpire. Asks if a specific action is an automatic out. Umpire says yes, so HC asks him to pay attention for it. HC asks the hitter to intentionally step out of the box and bunt the ball. She executes it, becomes the 3rd out, and we start a new inning. The timer starts beeping as she's walking to the dugout.

Next inning, the other team goes 3-up/3-down. DD's team scores a run to tie it up and the game goes into an extra inning. Where they end up holding the other team and scoring a walk off to win the game.

Did the opposing HC switch pitchers to kill time? Or to help throw off the hitter and get the out for the win? I can't confidently say it was a killing time strategy. But it sure felt that way based on the timing of the decision and the pace of swapping pitchers.

 

[The Man In Blue]

The sportsmanship issue is interesting. I understand the concept, but I disagree. Once you put a clock on the game, you fundamentally changed the game. Basketball teams run a slow-down offense, football teams kneel down ... the clock is a part of the game.

As an umpire, I can say I do try to manage the clock. I sure as heck am NOT instructing players or teams though. There are lots of things we think but don't say out loud.

"What is he managing the clock for?", you may ask. If we have a good game and the teams have been hustling and working their butts off, I'm hoping we play every bit of ball we can and then some. The rest of the time, I am managing the clock to make sure that the misery is minimal. I never used to be a "time shaver" but I will admit my perspective has changed. We are 87-minutes in, the visiting team is up 18-0 and the home team just went 3-up-3-down again, no ... we aren't sitting out here in the 95+ heat for another 25 minutes so the visitors can score 6 more runs and the home team can get a base hit for a moral victory. Am I evil for this? Possibly. Is your coach more evil for burning out his team on this garbage? Definitely.

The one rule I advocate for that will never get adopted is for tournaments to adopt a time-limit-run-rule stipulation: Once the time limit is reached, if either team is up by the run-rule (yes, even the visitors), the game is done on the spot. Finish the inning is fine IF THERE IS A REASON. In a run-rule game, there is no reason. (If the home team needs to bat, then we shouldn't have put a clock on the game.)

Or maybe we just add a golden sneetch rule like Quidditch.

 

[The Man In Blue]

DD's team played in a tournament two weekends ago where something I hadn't seen done before happened. As the home team, DD's team was down one run, 2 outs, a runner at 1B, with the #10 hitter coming to the plate. They were coming up on time. The girls had only scored one run earlier that inning and the other team suddenly decides to switch pitchers. And took their time doing it. Taking all allowed warmup pitches (at a slow place). All of the pitches were change ups, nothing fast. DD's HC knows the clock is about to expire.

So, while the pitcher is warming up, he calls over the umpire. Asks if a specific action is an automatic out. Umpire says yes, so HC asks him to pay attention for it. HC asks the hitter to intentionally step out of the box and bunt the ball. She executes it, becomes the 3rd out, and we start a new inning. The timer starts beeping as she's walking to the dugout.

Next inning, the other team goes 3-up/3-down. DD's team scores a run to tie it up and the game goes into an extra inning. Where they end up holding the other team and scoring a walk off to win the game.

Did the opposing HC switch pitchers to kill time? Or to help throw off the hitter and get the out for the win? I can't confidently say it was a killing time strategy. But it sure felt that way based on the timing of the decision and the pace of swapping pitchers.

One time I saw a very astute coach in a similar situation have his runner leave early so they could start a new inning. It worked out for his team in the end.

You sacrifice the base-runner and run a risk of giving up more runs, but you get a fresh set of outs.

 

[dbronstein]

The sportsmanship issue is interesting. I understand the concept, but I disagree. Once you put a clock on the game, you fundamentally changed the game. Basketball teams run a slow-down offense, football teams kneel down ... the clock is a part of the game.

I agree in theory. There is a huge difference in softball and baseball, however. In the other sports you have to manage the clock during play. A basketball team can slow it down, but they can't call a time out and run down the clock without playing. A football team can let the play clock run down and take a knee, but they have to run a play. They can't call a TO and run a minute off the clock while play is stopped.

IMO, it is poor sportsmanship to change pitchers to waste time, have the catcher pretend to have equipment problems, have the batter re-tie their shoes, etc. No, I don't know where the line is between stalling and "managing the clock", I just know it when I see it.

Of course this is part of why I coach rec. I don't want to feel pressure to do this stuff. A friend of mine coaches travel baseball and told me about a game where they told a player to strike out intentionally to get to the next inning. I completely understand why he did it - it was 100% the right move. My response is the day I tell a kid to strike out on purpose is the day I stop coaching. Again, this is why I could never coach TB.

 

[DNeeld]

My response is the day I tell a kid to strike out on purpose is the day I stop coaching. Again, this is why I could never coach TB.

Just curious, do you feel the same way about calling for a sacrifice bunt or fly?

 

[The Man In Blue]

I agree in theory. There is a huge difference in softball and baseball, however. In the other sports you have to manage the clock during play. A basketball team can slow it down, but they can't call a time out and run down the clock without playing. A football team can let the play clock run down and take a knee, but they have to run a play. They can't call a TO and run a minute off the clock while play is stopped.

IMO, it is poor sportsmanship to change pitchers to waste time, have the catcher pretend to have equipment problems, have the batter re-tie their shoes, etc. No, I don't know where the line is between stalling and "managing the clock", I just know it when I see it.

Of course this is part of why I coach rec. I don't want to feel pressure to do this stuff. A friend of mine coaches travel baseball and told me about a game where they told a player to strike out intentionally to get to the next inning. I completely understand why he did it - it was 100% the right move. My response is the day I tell a kid to strike out on purpose is the day I stop coaching. Again, this is why I could never coach TB.

You should be managing the clock the entire game, not in the last few minutes. The clock is moving the entire time the game is being played, not just when the ball is in play. Like I said, if I have two teams that have been hustling in and out of the dugout and keeping the game moving, they are going to get every bit of the game they can and then some.

If your team walked in and out of the dugout, you held excessive huddles every inning, couldn't figure out what position people were going to play from inning to inning, didn't have your courtesy runners ready, never sent somebody to warm up the pitcher when the catcher was the last out, took far too long to run your stupid wristbands every pitch, and the catcher insisted on sneaking in a 6th and 7th warm up pitch ... no, I am not hustling the other team up in the waning minutes of the game. YOU failed to manage the clock the entire game. Do NOT complain that you failed to do your job for seventy minutes and then you want somebody else to do it for you in the last 5 minutes. THAT is poor sportsmanship.

 

[Nimrod]

Just curious, do you feel the same way about calling for a sacrifice bunt or fly?

I'd feel the same way. A sac bunt is a natural, fun part of the game. Striking out is not.

 

[Nimrod]

The sportsmanship issue is interesting. I understand the concept, but I disagree. Once you put a clock on the game, you fundamentally changed the game. Basketball teams run a slow-down offense, football teams kneel down ... the clock is a part of the game.

Being part of the game doesn't make it good sportsmanship, though. Coaches ride umpires, often in demeaning ways. Unfortunately, that's part of the game. But those coaches aren't the ones you'd nominate for sportsmanship awards. The question isn't whether something is part of the game, but whether it should be part of the game. IMO, until there's a broad consensus that it should be part of the game, it probably shouldn't be, even if it is.

 

[Nimrod]

Also, don't ASA rules still allow a forfeit to be declared ''If a team employs tactics noticeably designed to delay or to hasten the game"?

Anything that intentionally breaks a rule, even if hard to prove or enforce, is unsportsmanlike.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Also, don't ASA rules still allow a forfeit to be declared ''If a team employs tactics noticeably designed to delay or to hasten the game"?

Anything that intentionally breaks a rule, even if hard to prove or enforce, is unsportsmanlike.

I do like your point about being part of the game not necessarily making it sporting. I agree with that completely. There will long be debates about what exactly is sporting and what isn't. As far as the clock in softball, I will also agree there are legal ways to run down clock and illegal ways to run down clock.

If a coach has unused conferences, I cannot deny them. Conferences do not have a defined time limit on them, though "60 seconds" is a commonly accepted practice. (I typically allow a few moments, brush off the plate, make note of the conference on my line-up card, and then begin walking to the mound to break it up.) If a coach wants to make a pitching change, I cannot deny that.

If a team doesn't take the field in a timely manner, I can do something about that. Shoe-tying and shenanigans, I can do something about that. (Hint: If you weren't respectful of the clock the whole game and now want to complain, I'm not likely to step in.)

To the point above, I believe all codes have this clause. I don't think I have ever seen anybody use it beyond threats. (Another TMIB tip: Do NOT threaten if you aren't willing to pull the trigger.)

Please don't take my comments wrong ... I am a traditionalist and am not a fan of putting a clock on the game, but I completely understand the necessity of doing it. I also understand that doing it changes the game. You can't have it both ways.

From an umpire perspective, I am contracted to do a set number of games. That does not mean my time is worthless. Like I said, good competitive games will get as much time as we can get for them. I do not mind extra-inning games that are exciting. Wasting another 30 minutes of time and setting the entire tournament behind because you think one more at-bat is going to get you out of a 21-0 blowout where you have gotten one hit ... no. Just no.