Hit by pitch. Limit?

[FPump]

It's not a rule under NFHS, ASA, NSA or USSSA rules. Since those are the only ones I deal with, I suppose it's possible some sanctioning body somewhere out there might have such a rule. But if they do, I've never seen it.

But I have seen things like this added as a special league rule in some recreational leagues.

Speaking PONY....not in their rules either.

 

[MTR]

You usually have an idea when a pitcher just isn't having a good day or just isn't that good and has no control. You don't mind giving a pitcher a chance, but sometimes you just have to take the overall game and safety of others into consideration. It happens, you just have to deal with it.

It is true that there is no rule that suggests an umpire may eject/DQ a player because she hit x number of batters. However, there is also no rule stating that an umpire must continue to umpire in a situation s/he considers unsafe.

Coaches need to understand that practices are for working out the kinks and for practice. Other teams are not guinea pigs and if a player is not having a good day and it is obviously not going to get better at that point, the coach has an obligation to BOTH teams on the field to manage the situation properly. It should not come down to an umpire to intervene.

 

[dpett]

Maybe the other team should practice getting out of the way.

 

[Mr T]

I forgot to mention. We were playing in a tourney. One we have played in for the past 4 years. Its been a PONY tournament every year. When we got there this year I found out that this year it was an unsanctioned tournament. I had my PONY rule book in my bag.

At any rate, the ump told me they were working off of HS rules. And the ump also told me that this was a rule under most rule sets. I was pretty certain he was wrong, but I also knew that it wasn't a real issue until she hit another batter which she did not.

FWIW every NorCal tourney we went to this year there was a limit on number of hit batters per inning before removal. He may have been quoting the tourney rule?

 

[BretMan]

I've actually seen this backfire in a league that added a "hit batter = pitcher removal" rule.

If the pitcher is dominating the other team, but happens to have some wildness, I've seen a team try to get hit, just to get the pitcher removed. Now you get even bigger arguments about the batter's "attempt to avoid" than you usually get.

I also don't like that under this rule a bean ball right to the helmet is treated the same as an inside pitch that barely brushes the batter's jersey.

 

[Lozza]

I'm with MTR. There might not be a rule but if a pitcher has hit 4 batters in 3 digs she needs to be pulled. Preferably be her coach but umpires can make the suggestion.

 

[chinamigarden]

I'm with MTR. There might not be a rule but if a pitcher has hit 4 batters in 3 digs she needs to be pulled. Preferably be her coach but umpires can make the suggestion.

Why do you think that she needs to be pulled? Generally I would probably have pulled her but as it was she was throwing a great game, other then those 4 hit batters.

 

[Lozza]

Why do you think that she needs to be pulled? Generally I would probably have pulled her but as it was she was throwing a great game, other then those 4 hit batters.

Because by hitting four batters she is NOT having a great game. She is injuring other people.

I put the girls health over winning games. There was that case a month or two ago where that little boy got hit in the wrong spot and died. If they've hit four players the chances are they're going to hit more. I'm not taking that chance.

I've known many friends who have had broken bones from getting hit by pitches.

 

[MTR]

Why do you think that she needs to be pulled? Generally I would probably have pulled her but as it was she was throwing a great game, other then those 4 hit batters.

If the umpire stops a game because of excessive hit batters, that pitcher is not even having a so-so game, let alone a great one. An umpire knows when the pitcher is off. Contrary to popular belief, an umpire wants to call strikes. That's why I love it when people claim an umpire is "squeezing" the pitcher. No umpire in their right mind would shrink the strike zone, it is just plain stupid.

Then again, I've seen umpires stop games because the team doesn't have a catcher that could catch.

 

[chinamigarden]

If the umpire stops a game because of excessive hit batters, that pitcher is not even having a so-so game, let alone a great one. An umpire knows when the pitcher is off. Contrary to popular belief, an umpire wants to call strikes. That's why I love it when people claim an umpire is "squeezing" the pitcher. No umpire in their right mind would shrink the strike zone, it is just plain stupid.

Then again, I've seen umpires stop games because the team doesn't have a catcher that could not catch.

1 hit, 12 strikeouts, 2 walks and 4 hit batters, 1 run allowed. Like I said, other then the 4 hit batters she was having a great game. It had nothing to do with the ump knowing she was off, it was everything to do with an ump thinking there was a rule when there was not.