Where can outfielders stand?

[Dabears17]

So, in Co-Ed slow pitch since there is a penalty for not having two female outfielders (ASA Rule 4, Section 1.C.3.c), the definition of outfielder in Rule 1 is 'A fielder who defends the area of the field that the left, left-center, right center, and right fielders normally play' then that is what is used to determine whether or not an infraction occurred.

What does a slow pitch umpire use to determine if there is a violation of the rule? There must be two females and two males on the grass?

However, since in fast-pitch there is no penalty defined for the outfielders, the Rule 1 definition of outfielder is more for reference and as long as Rule 6, Section 5 (Defensive Positioning) is followed, it doesn't matter where the players are?

A. The pitcher shall not deliver a pitch unless are players are positioned in fair territory, except for the the catcher how must be in the catcher's box.
B. A fielder shall not take a position in the batter's line of vision, with deliberate unsportsmanlike intent, or act in a manner to distract the batter. A pitch does not have to be released.

 

[MTR]

So, in Co-Ed slow pitch since there is a penalty for not having two female outfielders (ASA Rule 4, Section 1.C.3.c), the definition of outfielder in Rule 1 is 'A fielder who defends the area of the field that the left, left-center, right center, and right fielders normally play' then that is what is used to determine whether or not an infraction occurred.

What does a slow pitch umpire use to determine if there is a violation of the rule? There must be two females and two males on the grass?

However, since in fast-pitch there is no penalty defined for the outfielders, the Rule 1 definition of outfielder is more for reference and as long as Rule 6, Section 5 (Defensive Positioning) is followed, it doesn't matter where the players are?

A. The pitcher shall not deliver a pitch unless are players are positioned in fair territory, except for the the catcher how must be in the catcher's box.
B. A fielder shall not take a position in the batter's line of vision, with deliberate unsportsmanlike intent, or act in a manner to distract the batter. A pitch does not have to be released.

To start, forget "grass". It is irrelevant to any rule in the book and used only by locals .

As long as there are four, 2+2 a discernible, yet relatively equal distance behind the infielders. And please don't get anal (referring to everyone, not Dabears17) talking about inches and feet. The umpire will move the fielder if s/he believes they are not properly set.

In spite of the fact that ASA instituted a moronic rule with a penalty, an umpire should never allow a play to begin with players out of position. It is when the players want to jerk the umpire around with absurd points of reference (like the edge of the grass) to justify being where they shouldn't that the game becomes ridiculous and one of the reasons some umpires just outright refuse to work Co-rec games.

 

[JAD]

I am not an expert on the rules, but I do not think ASA dictates where players position themselves in the field. I do know that when my DD played rec ball, the outfielders were required to play with both feet in the outfield grass (local rec league rule). This prevented coaches from bringing everyone into the infield when a weak hitter was at the plate.

 

[Dabears17]

To start, forget "grass". It is irrelevant to any rule in the book and used only by locals .

As long as there are four, 2+2 a discernible, yet relatively equal distance behind the infielders. And please don't get anal (referring to everyone, not Dabears17) talking about inches and feet. The umpire will move the fielder if s/he believes they are not properly set.

In spite of the fact that ASA instituted a moronic rule with a penalty, an umpire should never allow a play to begin with players out of position. It is when the players want to jerk the umpire around with absurd points of reference (like the edge of the grass) to justify being where they shouldn't that the game becomes ridiculous and one of the reasons some umpires just outright refuse to work Co-rec games.

Thank you MTR. I'd much rather it be handled by the umpire making sure the players are in position before allowing play to begin. I'm going to advocate to adjusting our local rules to not have the penalty. I'd like to avoid putting hard definitions on where outfielders need to start and leave it in the umpires judgement.

Wish rec would just play straight ASA with as few local rules modifications as possible. As president I spend way too much time dealing with unintended consequences of local rules.

 

[AngelsFan01]

We had this situation come up in a friendly last year. The opposing team brought an outfielder in to the infield and the umpire wouldn't allow it. The coach tried to show him a rule and the umpire wouldn't have it...apparently the two of them had been having problems all day (4th game for them and 110+ degrees didn't help either!). The coach refused to play and ended up pulling his team off the field. During all of this time I was telling our coaches that there was no such rule and our head coach was going to go talk to the umpire, but he decided he didn't want to get involved in their argument. I did talk to the umpire afterwards and told him that I thought he might be quoting slow pitch outfielder rules. He looked at me kind of funny and then I saw the light bulb go off...unfortunately it was a little late!

 

[MTR]

We had this situation come up in a friendly last year. The opposing team brought an outfielder in to the infield and the umpire wouldn't allow it. The coach tried to show him a rule and the umpire wouldn't have it...apparently the two of them had been having problems all day (4th game for them and 110+ degrees didn't help either!). The coach refused to play and ended up pulling his team off the field. During all of this time I was telling our coaches that there was no such rule and our head coach was going to go talk to the umpire, but he decided he didn't want to get involved in their argument. I did talk to the umpire afterwards and told him that I thought he might be quoting slow pitch outfielder rules. He looked at me kind of funny and then I saw the light bulb go off...unfortunately it was a little late!

There is no "slow pitch outfielder" rule either. Only in Co-rec sp

 

[chinamigarden]

My experience shows that there are too many lazy people who won't read a rule book. They strictly rely on what someone once told them. If they trusted that person who first told them that all outfielders must be on the grass, or a runner can never round first when the pitcher has the ball, or the hands are part of the bat... Then they will fight you tooth and nail, harder then if you told them that something they read was wrong.