MooseLoop

Game starts with first pitch/"play ball". Watch on wrist until after plate conference when I put it in my pocket. Check occasionally to see if game is on pace to get all innings in. Hate it when game ends early, i.e., before all innings are played.

It's OBR 7.09(b): "7.09 It is interference by a batter or a runner when— . . . (b) He intentionally deflects the course of a foul ball in any manner;" BRD OBR index does not list 7.09(b), so the rule must the same in FED, NCAA, and OBR. But I wouldn't call it if the ball had none chance of going fair.

Maven, are you sure? My reading of OBR 3.15 is that it applies to persons authorized to be on the field other than members of the batting team's line-up, base coaches, and umpires. Like ball dudes or security persons. They are treated like spectator interference, umpire's judgment. See 3.15 Comment. For base coaches and players, 7.11 says that ball is dead, batter is out, and runners return, to TOP base on batted ball and TOI base on thrown ball. Same as FED, says BRD 324.

OBR 2.00: A FOUL BALL is a batted ball . . . that, while on or over foul territory, touches the person of a . . . player . . .. Does J/R say different?

OBR 7.05: Each runner including the batter-runner may, without liability to be put out, advance— (a) To home base, scoring a run, if a fair ball goes out of the playing field in flight and he touched all bases legally; OBR 2.00: IN FLIGHT describes a batted, thrown, or pitched ball which has not yet touched the ground or some object other than a fielder. FED's the same: 8-3-3a, 2-6-1.

The defense should have been aware of the potential disadvantage of the open gate and closed it to protect their interests. Two bases. Plate conference talk notwithstanding, especially if no penalty was specified. (I agree that ground rules cannot override rulebook rules.) In the unlikely event that one team routinely opens the gate when going on offense to gain an unfair advantage, warn then eject,

We use this in some leagues I do in the sumer. Last batted out simply means the last guy who made an out at bat. In your example B7 would be the LBO. It's meant to avoid something like this. Speedy leadoff hitter B1 singles. B2 strikes out. B1(R1) CS..(strike em out throw em out). B3 singles, manager wants speedy leadoff hitter to be CR...after all, he was the last out. ...The CR would be B2. The last "batted" out. Not B1 who the actual last out. So I will interpret "last batted out" = the player not on base whose batting slot is furthest away from coming up to bat again.

Provided BR did not hesitate unduly before starting to run.

"If no players not presently in the line-up are available, the courtesy runner shall be the player making the last batted out." Got me thinking, what the heck is a batted out? U-trip rules do not define it. We were just discussing the meaning of a batted ball. Would a batted out be an out following a batted ball? Picture a 9 player team, B1 grounds out, next five batters reach safely, B7 strikes out, catcher B8 reaches safely and wants a courtesy runner. Would the on-deck batter be the proper courtesy runner? What if B7's third strike was a foul tip?

Good rule references. My next question would be: Do the USSSA rules specify WHO may serve as a courtesy runner in this case? Yes. 7.04.B goes on to say; "The courtesy runner must be a player not presently in the line-up. If no players not presently in the line-up are available, the courtesy runner shall be the player making the last batted out." USSSA rules are available online. Search for usssabaseball.

"At any time, the offensive team may use a courtesy runner for the pitcher and catcher of record the previous inning on defense." USSSA 7.04.B. "When using the continuous lineup and a player has to leave the game for any reason, that position in the line-up becomes an out when that at bat comes around." USSSA 7.02.D.1(b). "Playing rules not specifically covered herein, shall be governed by The Official Rules of Baseball - National League, as published by Major League Baseball on the MLB.com web site." USSSA Official Baseball Natiional By-Laws & Rules, Foreword. OBR does not permit courtesy runners, so unless ejectee was a pitcher or catcher, the ej results in an out. And future at bats are outs. I'm assuming from the context of the OP that no subs are available.

OBR. R1. Pitcher attempts pickoff (from the rubber). There is the typical fence parallel to, and about 15 feet away, from first base line, ending about even with the outfield grass,and the extension of which marks dead ball territory. F3 misses the throw, ball hits fence and rolls toward right field about 10 feet past the end of the fence, stopping about three feet in bounds from the fence-extended line. F9 runs over, and as he is picking up the ball, his feet slip out from under him and he falls facedown on the ball, with his knees in LBT and his feet in the air. He picks up the ball, pushes himself to a kneeling position, and the toes of his shoes hit dead ball territory half a second before he releases a throw to third base trying to put out R1, who is two steps past second. At the moment the throw is released, F9's weight mostly is on his knees in live ball territory, but the toes of both his shoes are touching the ground in dead ball territory, giving him some leverage on the throw. R5 catches the throw and tags out R1. What result? What rule, if any? Different in FED?

So when does the runner "beat the throw"? When his lead foot touches the ground at or past the base? Or when his entire body has completely passed the back of the base? Or somewhere in between?

Twice in ten-plus years, I have warned a coach that his pitcher, who had hit several batters painfully and dangerously, was intentionally throwing harder than he could control, which I interpreted as being unsportsmanlike and malicious contact, and that I would eject the pitcher if it happened again. Both coaches were displeased. I hear and understand all of you who claim I am making up rules. I could argue that I am merely interpreting an existing rule. On the other hand, some players may get hurt, and others may quit baseball. I will err on the side of safety and the interests of baseball. Let the coach protest, and the league can decide. FWIW, I do not do this on routine multiple low-speed plunkings.

YHGTBSM. You asked for a rule reference. I'm not allowing a batter to get a walk by slapping the 3-X pitch down, and I have rule support. I am amazed that anyone would allow it. But if you wanna, go ahead.

OBR 2.00: A STRIKE is a legal pitch when so called by the umpire, which— (e) Touches the batter as he strikes at it; Does not say the pitch has to be struck at with a bat.

I'll ask you this. Between innings pitcher has a ball. Infielders have one and outfielders have one. Which one is live?? If a ball is live, it would be the one that is a game ball, which in my games is the one up with which the pitcher is warming. Thank you to those who posted citations to authoritative interpretations. Although I'd like to see the actual wording, I'll take your word for it. I stand corrected, at least until some other authority says the ball is live between innings and I don't need to put the ball in play to start the next half-inning.

If the interpretation was otherwise, the pivot man could turn an easy double play by stepping on second and then plunking the already-retired runner.

I don't see minor league or college games much, if at all, so I can't benefit from their example. But I do attend a few MLB games a year, and sometimes see MLB on tv. But point taken about not relying on MLB practices, as well as the rattlesnake maxim. My possibly incorrect belief that the ball is not dead between innings is based on what I was told when I first got into umpiring, supported by the lack of a rule making it dead. Sort of like when B1 makes out: the ball is not dead but nothing can happen. So I consider the ball to be effectively, but not technically, dead between half-innings. @JaxRolo, other than common sense , why do you think the ball is dead between innings? I work mainly youth baseball, from 9yo to 16yo, with a fair amount of high school games and summer college wood-bat tournaments. Also a smattering of fp hs softball. @Matt, thanks for your moral support. Bottom line is that my apparently bizarre between-innings-ball-status belief matters little, but I'll try saying and pointing "play" at the beginning of half-innings, at least for awhile.

Wow indeed. I'm surprised my post caused such a strong reaction. No baiting intended. I firmly believe in putting the ball in play with a point and a verbal "play" after every dead ball. Even without runners, because it gets the players used to the ball being dead until I say otherwise and it makes it an automatic habit for me. But I see no reason to put it in play at the beginning of an inning when the warm-ups are over and pitcher, catcher, and batter are ready. Is it the consensus here that I should? I guess so, huh? I'm going to look for what MLB umps do.

I do not indicate "play" at the beginning of a half-inning other than T1. My training was not to, and I don't consider the ball dead between innings. True, nothing can happen until the pitcher throws to a batter, but there no rule that says the ball is dead when a third out is made.

Keep the game moving, but clocks in baseball are anathema. Dinner can wait.

Think in advance about your strike zone and how it will differ from the little league zone you might be used to. Stay focused mentally on the current pitch and play; don't dwell on past pitches and plays. Walk on the field with confidence and authority. After a few batters, your butterflies will flap away. In many ways, the better the players, the easier the umpiring.

Given the MLBUM interpretation that the delayed dead ball caused by the balk becomes dead when the catcher catches ball four, rather than when all action on the pitch has relaxed, I can understand the logical consequences. I do not understand the logic behind the interpretation. Why deprive the offense of R2's perfectly good stolen base and the batter's nice walk down to first base because the pitcher committed a balk? And another thing: what happens if the 3-x balk is followed by a wild pitch allowing a non-stealing R2 to advance to third?

Did I miss the blue sarcasm font? My partner called the batter out. How can you then get the offense for batting out of order? In addition to that where is the proof in the original post that my partner was definitely wrong? He has the official count, no one else. So the first thing that would have to happen is for someone to convince him that he was wrong. Well, the question was how would I have handled it. Before going BOO, I would have conferred privately with PU whose call it was. If he changes his strike three call to strike two and then asked me how to fix the mess, I would use BOO to create a just result supported by rules. I do not know of a rule that makes this a do-over and deprives the defense of the put-out at first. But coming up with a good solution in the heat of the game is difficult. I can accept your after-the-next-pitch-it's-too-late solution. Or the umpire-interference do-over.