This came up in the Look Back Rule thread, but was really a side discussion.
So, the purpose of all that was to say that, after not umpiring a slow pitch game for probably 25 years, I finally did one on Friday night. Bar league, no contact league. Usually one man game, but using 2 for semi's and final. Everything was different! I had the bases and stayed in the B position the entire game. No sliding. If you overrun 2nd or 3rd - can't be tagged out if you beat the throw. Runner can't reverse direction if past the half way point between bases.
But MTR was right. Game went 6 1/2 innings. It would have been a shorter game, but after being down 2 going into the bottom of the 6th, the home team had a 5 run rally and hung on to win 8-5. Still, with that big rally, game lasted only 55 minutes. Lots of runs, much less time, and just as MTR said, every single time that ball was returned to the infield, time was called. But that's because there's no stealing, no coming off the bases, no run downs. Different game, and I don't think you could call the play dead in FP. Unless you're willing to change the rules to give up all the running free that goes on in FP. I, for one, am not.
ArmWhip said:
So if a runner is standing 10ft off second base and the pitcher doesn't want to make a throw what happens, the ump calls time?
MTR replied:
If there is no apparent play, yep. Happens thousands of times a day in the SP game with no issue
ArmWhip then said:
To not have the 'look back' would slow the game down. My pitchers would stare at the runner to make sure she didn't take off for the next base. The umpire, at some point, would have to make a decision that the staredown had gone far enough and call time. Or you would have runners juking back and forth and pitchers faking throws on every pitch.
MTR finished:
Actually, it would speed up the game. There is no BS as you are suggesting.. When all obvious play is finished, the umpires call time and you move on with the game.
This occurs in the SP game thousands of times a day. They play the same amount of inning, score 10 to 30 times the amount of runs and are still done in nearly half the time the FP game takes.
So, the purpose of all that was to say that, after not umpiring a slow pitch game for probably 25 years, I finally did one on Friday night. Bar league, no contact league. Usually one man game, but using 2 for semi's and final. Everything was different! I had the bases and stayed in the B position the entire game. No sliding. If you overrun 2nd or 3rd - can't be tagged out if you beat the throw. Runner can't reverse direction if past the half way point between bases.
But MTR was right. Game went 6 1/2 innings. It would have been a shorter game, but after being down 2 going into the bottom of the 6th, the home team had a 5 run rally and hung on to win 8-5. Still, with that big rally, game lasted only 55 minutes. Lots of runs, much less time, and just as MTR said, every single time that ball was returned to the infield, time was called. But that's because there's no stealing, no coming off the bases, no run downs. Different game, and I don't think you could call the play dead in FP. Unless you're willing to change the rules to give up all the running free that goes on in FP. I, for one, am not.
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