Ever ask your player to get out on purpose?

[SoCalSoftballdad]

OP:

You feel bad / question your tactics because of this:

ASA Rule 5.4.E: A forfeited game shall be declared by the umpire in favor of the team not at fault in the following cases: E. If a team employs tactics noticeably designed to delay or to hasten the game.

But you felt the need to do that because of an artificial time limit on the game. If the game were played according to 5.3.A; "A regulation game shall consist of seven innings." then your tactics would not have been necessary as you would have to play out the game.

Stepping off early, swinging before the ball gets to the plate (should not be called a strike unless the ball was in the zone anyway!) would be the more "noticeable" tactics when you are on offense and could get you into trouble with a sharp umpire.

I would like to know where there are TB tournys that the games are all inning limited. All we have around here are all time limited except the championship games. Although the USSSA state one here (Georgia, 10&U B) had a time limit even on the championship game, and the IF "game" was a shootout!

You do bring up a good point that there are ASA rules that forbid excessive stalling and speeding up of the game, however since its a judgment call by the umpire, I don't think they would ever make a team forfeit a game for swinging on a bad pitch or leaving a base early unless they saw some egregious action by the offending team.

For me, I don't feel bad that I was using the rules to our advantage, more so in principle that I would ask my player to make an out on herself on purpose. But maybe its just part of the game when you have timed tournament games? I agree, lets get rid of timed games and just say "no new inning after X".

 

[softballphreak]

I think the vast majority of people realize that time limits degrade the sport and would like to see time limits eliminated. Now, if we could get some sharp tournament directors to find another way to get the games in by some other means than time limits I believe we would see a significant increase in the level of enjoyment for the fans and players alike.

College coaches would also benefit because they would be able to see REAL competitive effort instead of show and tell mechanics.

 

[mikeh25]

I do not fault you for managing the game situation and the clock to your advantage. In a league game it is a bush-league move. In a tournament, it is part of the game.

Gutsiest move I have ever seen in "time managment" was a few years ago:

Youth slowpitch (yeah, we were really late to fastpitch around here).
Time limited game, 1 minute left.
Home team batting, down by 4.
Bases loaded, two out.
Weakest stick at the plate; 10th batter.
Home team manager is coaching 3rd, & gets his player to step off for the 3rd out and starts an "extra" inning.

Opposition goes 1,2,3. In the bottom of the inning the home team scores 5 to win.

 

[FPMark]

I've never been to a tournament that did not have time limits on the games. They are always finish the inning. Pool games are sometimes drop dead, unless they count towards seading for bracket play. Reverting back to the last completed inning is insane if the game counts for anything other than a warm up, and if it doesn't count, drop dead is drop dead and who cares?

The problem with playing straight innings (7 or whatever no.) is the unpredictable length of the games. If you are hosting a tournament, and trying to draw teams from a couple of hours away, you have to be able to complete the tournament in 2- 3 days. Baseball tourns. around here last for a week or two, they play 7 innings with no time limits. Some games can last 2 to 3 hours.

I understand time limits, but I don't think I would play anything with "revert to last completed inning" rules.

 

[rowdy]

I really don't have a problem with coaches using the clock or stalling as long as it is the natural progression of the game. For example, if you have a mound visit left go ahead and use it, or if you are at bat and have a conference with the batter then use it. Where I draw the line is when you change catchers, or pitchers with the intent of running out the clock.

Both are perfectly legal but one is strategy and the other is bush league. If you can't win straight up then don't play. The only time we will drag our feet is if we have the game in hand and we don't want to start another inning to save energy.

 

[Comp]

Don't have my rule book with me so can't quote the rule number but under asa rules any action used to purposely delay or hasten a game is grounds for forfeiting the game.

 

[mad hornet]

We've seen drop dead / revert a lot more than usual this year but it generally has to go with games being shortened due to rain. TD's have to make a decision based on ability to ready fields after heavy rains to rearrange games, shorten them, or cancel games or ultimately the tournament. If you don't like 1 hour 15 min, try getting into 50 minutes drop dead / revert and then seeing the coach stall so that a 2 inning game becomes official. Not much fun.

On the other side of that coin, yes I have asked runners to leave early to get an out. However I have only done that when we are beating a hapless team like a drum, the run rule is secured, and it's time to be done.

 

[99&beyond]

I had never actually SEEN this play out until this season. We had a 7 GG that we were playing in. Our team did bad and didn't win a game. During our last game, I noticed a lot of excitement on the field behind us. A friend of our's team was playing a really good team. Game is tied up and clock is ticking down fast. The umps and both sets of coaches from our game was straining their necks to see the game. The 3rd base coach was telling his girls to leave the bases only they wouldn't step off. He sent a girl to steal home on a caught ball only the catcher just let her go. Finally got the batter to swing and miss. But it was too late by that time. Time ended and the score reverted back and they lost by 1.

 

[playball13]

We've asked girls to possibly get out to set us up for a better inning next inning. Situation: Runner on first, 2 outs, lead off hitter batting. Lead off hitter is a great hitter, high average, great speed steals safely 98% of time, single is as good as a double or triple. Base runner is slow it will probably take 2 hits to get her home.
We'll have the base runner try to steal second regardless of speed. If she is out our lead off hitter bats lead off and has a good chance to score. if she is safe at second she at least has a chance to score on it. The runners know what is happening, don't really like it, but understand it.

My DD got out on purpose during HS ball. Her summer team pitcher was playing for a terrible HS team. Their infield could not field a ball, each inning there were at least 2-3 errors. My DD team was piling on the runs, winning by double digits. My DD couldn't stand it so every time she came up to bat she struck out. It hurt her HS stats, and she got pulled from that game but somethings are more important.