Injured player and calling time

[Moriarty_45]

18u rec ball using FED rules. R2 and R3. After the pitch F2 throws to F5 on a pickoff attempt. A rundown ensues. F1 goes to receive the throw near homeplate and gets all twisted up and slams to the ground trying to catch and tag R3 at the same time. R3 scores. No contact by R3 at all. F1 stays down, rolling around in pain. I look up and see R2 getting to 3rd. F1 still down, I call "TIME!". R2 rounds 3rd, F2 picks up the ball and they now have R2 in a rundown. I repeated the time call several times and then finally got them to shut it down. F1 still on the ground. Defensive fans pissed now because they feel they were denied an opportunity at an out. Coach is interested in why I killed it but not arguing. I said "I'm protecting your pitcher. He is obvously hurt, lying in the baseline and vulnerable to further injury if the play continues". He agreed and we played on.

Should I have let it play out?

If I had let it play out, I am sure the defensive fans would have been even more pissed by letting their player get trampled during the second rundown.

[Tyennie]

I think i would have done the same as you. With an obvious injury to a player, I will lean towards the safety of players every time: with the one caveat of making sure that there is a reasonable moment in the action to call time. Several years ago I was calling a LL minors game, when the RF (kid had a cannon for an arm) threw the ball back in toF4 who was not paying attention - hit him square on the left side of his head/jaw. TIME! Even tho, the off. had a runner rounding 3rd. I think most 'normal' parents will appreciate the fact that you show some 'compassion' towards their players (even if the injured is from the other team) But there are some idiots out there who still have the win at all cost attitudes. Which is really a sad testimony to the current state of society. What was the extent of the players injury in your OP

[Moriarty_45]

He landed on his shoulder, not serious, but did come out of the game. In rec ball and any younger travel ball games I am also going to go with safety first too. Chest and head shots will get an immediate TIME! in amost every situation with me.

[Tyennie]

I have even suggested to coaches that they might want to talk to their pitchers, when F1 is showing signs of pain when throwing. This past weekend worked a legion tourny (16-18) coach moved his F2 to F1, didn't even notice that this kid was not even trying to throw out runners advancing from 1B. So the kid gets on the mound and after about 3 pitches I see him wincing. At a break in the action I asked him:

TY - how does your arm feel

F1 - It's fine

Ty - don't lie to me dude, does it hurt like a mofo?

F1 - Yeah it is really sore

Ty - You know there is no need to blow out your arm at your age, there is nothing wrong with telling your coach you can't go anymore.

F1 - (nods his head and starts to consider options)

Ty - Surgery at 17 is not necessary. But it is your choice.

F1 - I will try a couple more

For this kids sake, the def. got him the third out quickly and he was pulled off the hill the next inning.

[Stan W.]

Im with you on this issue...if there is an injury, I'd kill it.....if I'm going to err, its going to be on the side of safety.....

[umpcoachfather]

With todays legal system, I'm calling time for serious looking issues. other than that play continues.

[Dragon29]

Concur - In your sitch, kill it as soon as you have a reasonable suspicion that a player may be injured.

[3rdGENump]

I would kick dirt on them and tell them to get out of the way... jk In this situation it is best to kill the play and get the player the attention they need.

[noumpere]

Based on reading the play I think you called time too early. You said you called it as R2 was getting to third. And then after that he rounded third and got into a rundown. So if F2's throw to third had gotten R2 out as he was diving back to the base, you wouldn't of had the out, but you should of.

You need to wait until there is the rundown to call time but I agree with your reasoning on this once the rundown starts.

[Jocko]

HSV game. Moonshot to shallow center. F4, F6, and F8 all converging on the ball. F6, a football db with 4.5 speed, is in a dead sprint headed out. F8, a football wr with 4.7 speed, is in a dead sprint headed in. F4 pulls up but doesn't direct traffic. TRAINWRECK!!! I killed it IMMEDIATELY. There were runners on base, don't remember where. I go running from the dish screaming "TIME!" F8 is out cold. F6 face is swollen instantly. Blood everywhere. 9-1-1 called. Trainer to the scene of the crash. Both players taken to the hospital. They collided FACE TO FACE. Who gives a damn about runners? When there's a POSSIBILITY a serious injury has occurred, kill it NOW. Consequently, HT declared the game over due to his players hurt. Top of the 4th down by a few. Incomplete game, but who gives a s**t. I'm out. Worst thing I've ever seen on the ball field, bar none.

[Tyennie]

Agreed!! Several years ago I was doing a game as PU, and batter hits a flyball straight to center field, F8 turns, tracking ball in a dead sprint. He turned to see where the fence was..... yup it was right in his face. Caught an upright fence pole right across his lip. He hit the fence and immediately dropped to the ground. The BU called time, and we both ran out the to player.

[scrounge]

I agree completely with that as well. I say err on the side of caution - if it's clearly just a twisted ankle, monitor and play on. But anything involving the head or chest or looking serious will get a pretty quick "time".

And for little guys, anything remotely serious - ESPECIALLY near the head - is getting an immediate halt, rules be damned, we're going to go see what's wrong and we'll worry about the game later.

[KLAH316]

And for little guys, anything remotely serious - ESPECIALLY near the head - is getting an immediate halt, rules be damned, we're going to go see what's wrong and we'll worry about the game later.

And you know that with the little guys, the coach will be running on the field ASAP as well.....

Also, you always have to keep in the back of your mind all the parents with the video running. How would it look if a kid appears to be seriously hurt and you, as the one in charge on the field, does nothing while waiting for the play to come to an end????

[scrounge]

Heck yes, they will. I did it myself Sat morning coaching my son's 11/12 yr old rec team. R1, 3B was in place for a fast grounder when it hit something on the grass field and jumped way up, hitting him right on the side of the face before bounding into (and past) the LF. I looked quickly at the runner to make sure he wasn't advancing to third and bearing down on the 3B laying in the baseline, screaming his head off, and started running directly to him. I don't even think I called time.Turned out we were REALLY lucky, it was a glancing blow to the cheek near the nose, no teeth involvement but you could see the ball's stitch marks. Kid spit a little blood but much, but he screamed for a good 10 minutes or so. I think he was in shock, but luckily one of the parents on the other team was a doctor, so he got immediate attention.

And for little guys, anything remotely serious - ESPECIALLY near the head - is getting an immediate halt, rules be damned, we're going to go see what's wrong and we'll worry about the game later.

And you know that with the little guys, the coach will be running on the field ASAP as well.....

Also, you always have to keep in the back of your mind all the parents with the video running. How would it look if a kid appears to be seriously hurt and you, as the one in charge on the field, does nothing while waiting for the play to come to an end????

[KLAH316]

I had one in a Middle School Game this season....

I'm BU in C and the batter hits a screaming one hopper to F6, I no sooner pivot around to follow the ball and it jumps up and catches the kid right smack in the middle of the face. The sound was awful!!! He immediately let out this scream and collapsed to the ground holding his face.

I killed it immediately and ran over to him as his coach came running out as well. Pretty sure when play resumed, we just put everyone on a base.

I have never seen a face swell that fast before, it caught him just under the eye.

[Jocko]

14u. Hard grounder to F4 behind the bag. He's hustling to get there. Ball takes a wicked hop and from "C" it looks like it hit him squarely . Knocked his hat off. Boom. Dead. Luckily he was only shook up. OC is arguing. Knock it off. He actually said, "since we called time for his injury doesn't he have to come out?" This ain't football, dillhole. I froze the runners and awarded a single. Noone was forced, so no run.

[Rich Ives]

If players go head to head, or a blow to a head, or blood all over the place - fine - stop play.

But in the OP some 17 or 18 year old just fell down and went boom. Play on. It'll keep.

[noumpere]

If players go head to head, or a blow to a head, or blood all over the place - fine - stop play.

But in the OP some 17 or 18 year old just fell down and went boom. Play on. It'll keep.

I agree with this and Im also letting coaches begin to run out to the player as long as they dont interfere with the play. The few seconds the play will last wont make a difference in the treatment in most cases (excluding some of the examples in this thread, perhaps).

[Dragon29]

And you know that with the little guys, the coach will be running on the field ASAP as well.....

and the kids' mom, grandma, sisters, cousins and aunts . . .

Also, you always have to keep in the back of your mind all the parents with the video running. How would it look if a kid appears to be seriously hurt and you, as the one in charge on the field, does nothing while waiting for the play to come to an end????

Screw the video - it might be there, it might not - take care of the kid.

And, Rich, I know what you mean about the older kids, but I'm not a doctor. If I think there's a reasonable possibility a player, whatever his age, may be hurt, I'm killing it. Not sayin' you're wrong, and each of these are HTBT sitches anyway, but how do you know kid didn't break his ankle?

Erring on the side of caution will never bite you in the ass. (other than a stoopid OM arguing about where to place his runners, or a stoopid DM looking for an out)

JMHO

[KLAH316]

And you know that with the little guys, the coach will be running on the field ASAP as well.....

and the kids' mom, grandma, sisters, cousins and aunts . . .

Also, you always have to keep in the back of your mind all the parents with the video running. How would it look if a kid appears to be seriously hurt and you, as the one in charge on the field, does nothing while waiting for the play to come to an end????

Screw the video - it might be there, it might not - take care of the kid.

That's what I mean.... Take care of the kid.... Don't ignore it and wait for the play to end if there is a chance of a real injury!