Drop Third Strike Scenario

[ljvavs]

This has occurred with me behind the plate three times this year alone. I’m still not sure I handled it correctly. In both a LL (x2) and HS game, runners on 1B and 2B, less than 2 outs. The Batter gets a called strike three, which then gets by the Catcher. I clearly motion and loudly call him out, however with everyone screaming a plethora of commands (“Run, he dropped the ball!â€, “He’s out!â€, “You call that a strike?â€, etc.) the Batter-Runner takes off for first full speed and the Catcher gets the ball and throws it past the 1B. Chaos ensues: the Runners don’t know what to do, so they’re advancing (albeit hesitantly), the defensive coach is yelling that the Batter-Runner distracted his fielders by running when he was out, and the offensive coaches are yelling out contradictory commands to the base Runners (“Run!†vs. “Get back!â€). One of my Field Umpires called time and ruled it “Distraction†saying that the Batter-Runner caused the chaos in the first place, and he sent everyone back to where they were (except the Batter). Both coaches seemed pacified, yet I asked him after the game where that was in the rule book, and he just mumbled something about being fair to the spirit of the rules. What should I have done in these circumstances?

[Mike Prince]

Don't kill the play, there is no basis to call time in this scenario.

 

You did the right thing by signaling and announcing the batter out.  Let the offense play their mistake out, you are likely to get more outs.

 

Your partner was wrong - this is not the 'spirit of the rules'.  There is a clearly defined rule/case for this scenario and the offensive team does not know it.  But don't reward their blunder by calling time and letting them off the hook.  They will be mad if the defense screws up and throws the ball away and the defense will be mad if they get the additional out and you disallow it.  Calling time has no winner here.

[UmpJM]

ljavs,

 

You should, ....

 

1. emphatically call the batter out,

 

2. let the play stand as it happened, and

 

3. severely chastise your partner for making stuff up which is clearly contrary to the rules.

 

JM

[grayhawk]

First, block that umpire as a partner.

 

Second, you did your job.  You called the runner out.  It may be a situation where you need the good ole, "He's out!  HE'S STILL OUT!" verbal.  The bottom line is that the defense is responsible for knowing the situation.  They need to know not to play on the retired batter.  Any outs stand.  Any runners that have advanced also stand.

[KLAH316]

I had one a few weeks ago while I was on the bases (11U)..... R1/R2.  The PU wasn't very emphatic about the batter being out on the D3K and the Merry-Go-Round ensued.  Ball getting thrown all over, both runners scored and the batter wound up on 2B. 

Once the craziness ended and they tried to finally make a play on the batter, I very calmly called "Time" pointed to 2B and said "Batters Out, First Base Occupied" 

[mstaylor]

I had a catcher airmail a throw to RF, R1 goes to third, BR guess to first. Everything relaxes and the catcher asked wasn't the batter out. Sure was, as I turn to call him out. Then he asked didn't the runner have to go back. " Nope, he stole those two bases, you just learned an object lesson."

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

[sdix00]

You mentioned that someone yelled "You call that a strike?".   Does this mean you called a pitch a strike that was not caught and the batter did not swing at?  If so, technically OK, but you may want to avoid doing this if you can (unless it's down the pipe, of course.  

 

D3K should usually be swung at, unless it is down the pipe. 

 

I keyed on this item in your OP because that may be why some were confused on the field. 

 

--

I agree with everyone else.   "Batter's OUT! Batter's OUT!", then whatever happens happens. 

[ljvavs]

Responding to sdix00:

 

Question- I'm confused as to what I'm supposed to call out if the pitch is an non-swung at strike? Yes, I called out clearly "Batters out!" a few times, but once again the fans were proclaiming their coaching hints and assessment of the play ensuing rather than listening to the PU.

 

I'm getting a general impression that most input is suggesting let what happens, happen and end it with making sure the BR is out.

 

Thanks for all the input, gentlemen!

[johnnyg08]

Yep, and it is also not illegal for the Batter to run to 1B in that situation even though he is out.  The defense is responsible for knowing the rules and the situation as well.

 

I don't like partners who make up rules.

[bleacher_bum]

At the younger levels of play, I teach kids to run on a D3K (no matter the outs or occupied bases).  Just to try and make it instinctive later on.  Not trying to make the defense slip up, just trying to get the kids to understand the play isn't over in some situations.  Base coaches should prepare their base runners accordingly, as well as the defensive coaches should have their team ready.  We usually just have a signal for the catcher, to remind him when a D3K needs to be addressed or not.  But rules are rules, and there are lessons learned by following them.

[noumpere]

Responding to sdix00:

 

Question- I'm confused as to what I'm supposed to call out if the pitch is an non-swung at strike? Yes, I called out clearly "Batters out!" a few times, but once again the fans were proclaiming their coaching hints and assessment of the play ensuing rather than listening to the PU.

 

I'm getting a general impression that most input is suggesting let what happens, happen and end it with making sure the BR is out.

 

Thanks for all the input, gentlemen!

Both -- decalre the batter out and then let what happens happen.  It just wasnt clear to me from your post whether you were goign to drop the "batter's out" part of what you did and you should keep it.