Rule 5-4-E: FORFEITED GAMES.
A forfeited game shall be declared by the umpire in favor of the team not at fault in the following cases:
- If a team employs tactics noticeably designed to delay or to hasten the game.
And it's not just an ASA thing. This rule, or some version of it, is in most every baseball and softball rule book. It dates back to the earliest days of professional baseball, back to the early 1900's.
Back then a clock wasn't a consideration. This was designed for cases such as weather turning bad and a team purposely making outs to get in enough innings to make it an official game, or darkness approaching and a team stalling to prevent the other team from having a chance to come back.
These tactics didn't sit well with paying fans. They wanted to see the best players try their best, not purposely make outs or stall the game. So the rule was written and, like many other rules, subsequent baseball and softball leagues copied it when they wrote their own rule books.
Whether or not a tactic is delaying or hastening the game can be situational and is at the discretion of the umpires. I have never seen any official interpretations for ASA/USA softball that defines precisely what this means.
My personal opinion, with respect to a clock being used, is that if something causes the game to continue such that both teams will still have an equal number of at-bats, then it is generally acceptable. For example, making an out when the clock is running down so that another full inning can be played.
If the strategy deprives the other team from getting their at-bats (ie: illegal stalling when in the lead to run out the clock), then I feel that the umpire needs to address it. Again, just reminding the coach that the tactic can lead to a forfeit is usually enough to put a stop to it. And, again, a forfeit should be the absolute last resort after issuing any warnings.
A forfeited game shall be declared by the umpire in favor of the team not at fault in the following cases:
- If a team employs tactics noticeably designed to delay or to hasten the game.
And it's not just an ASA thing. This rule, or some version of it, is in most every baseball and softball rule book. It dates back to the earliest days of professional baseball, back to the early 1900's.
Back then a clock wasn't a consideration. This was designed for cases such as weather turning bad and a team purposely making outs to get in enough innings to make it an official game, or darkness approaching and a team stalling to prevent the other team from having a chance to come back.
These tactics didn't sit well with paying fans. They wanted to see the best players try their best, not purposely make outs or stall the game. So the rule was written and, like many other rules, subsequent baseball and softball leagues copied it when they wrote their own rule books.
Whether or not a tactic is delaying or hastening the game can be situational and is at the discretion of the umpires. I have never seen any official interpretations for ASA/USA softball that defines precisely what this means.
My personal opinion, with respect to a clock being used, is that if something causes the game to continue such that both teams will still have an equal number of at-bats, then it is generally acceptable. For example, making an out when the clock is running down so that another full inning can be played.
If the strategy deprives the other team from getting their at-bats (ie: illegal stalling when in the lead to run out the clock), then I feel that the umpire needs to address it. Again, just reminding the coach that the tactic can lead to a forfeit is usually enough to put a stop to it. And, again, a forfeit should be the absolute last resort after issuing any warnings.
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