DHs and other shenanigans

[afaber12]

I mucked up a few weeks ago when I thought I did really well. I was flying solo for a couple of games, and in the first game I had an unusual situation in that the visiting team played with a designated hitter - its allowed in the league but rarely used.

 

The DH was in the #9, and was due to lead off for the top of the 3rd inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, the manager decided to pull the pitcher. Problem was that he only had 10 players, so there was no one on his bench to sub in. He called time, and said he was swapping his pitcher with one of his outfielders. I told him that'd mean his DH would have to come out of the game, he umm-ed and ahh-ed and then went ahead with the change.

 

Problem was he hadn't batted yet, and the home team hadn't changed pitchers. It was in the last couple of days, going through manuals and rulebooks to brush up for the finals that I realised that the DH couldn't come out of the game at that stage. The manager could've still brought the outfielder on to pitch, and even kept the starting pitcher in the game somewhere else in the field, but would've had to send the DH out onto the field and pull someone off.

 

I'm guessing everyone here will have a story of confidently applying a rule that all involved accepted at the time, but later on you realised you'd mucked it up totally and utterly. I'm hoping some of you will be prepared to share it here, so that I and the rest of us can feel that little bit better about our own human errors, perhaps helping to avoid making the same mistake ourselves, while still being the image of perfection to the rest of the world.

 

Or maybe just being able to have a laugh at each other's expense. Whatever...

[UmpJM]

afaber,

 

What rule code was the game being played under?

 

If you were using the FED DH rule, you should have allowed the F9/F1 swap, and the DH should have been allowed to continue being the DH.

 

JM

[afaber12]

Australian-OBR. From what I can tell, same as OBR but a season behind the US, so the fake to 3rd move is legal right now, but won't be for the upcoming summer season. Likewise the update to the infield fly/interference combo will come in at the same time.

Once I realised my error, I checked the league's rules and playing conditions, and its "DH Rule" (which is lifted from OBR anyway) and there's no allowance for that type of substitution while keeping the DH.

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[UmpJM]

Actually, under the OBR DH rules, if he's only got ten players, the ONLY one he can bring in to pitch if he yanks the pitcher from the mound but wants to keep him in the game is the DH.

 

JM

[afaber12]

My reading of Rule 6.10b5 suggests otherwise:

The Designated Hitter may be used on defense, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting

order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player, unless more

than one substitution is made, and the manager then must designate their spots in the batting order.

 

The pitcher could then stay in the game, as well as the designated hitter, it would just be whichever fielder came off that would be out of the game.


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[Jocko]

I had a simple ball thrown OOP. I awarded the wrong base for the wrong reason. And I explained it all wrong. As soon as the next pitch was thrown, it hit me like a ton of bricks. BR should have been awarded 2b (TOP) but I gave him TOT which was 3B. Very embarassing. Wish my partner (who realized immediately my error) would have gotten with me so we could have gotten it right. Oh well.

[Replacematt]

My reading of Rule 6.10b5 suggests otherwise:

"The Designated Hitter may be used on defense, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player, unless more than one substitution is made, and the manager then must designate their spots in the batting order."

The pitcher could then stay in the game, as well as the designated hitter, it would just be whichever fielder came off that would be out of the game.

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I think he's saying if they wanted to pull the pitcher in your example, the only legal way to do it and satisfy all aspects of the DH rule would be to have the DH pitch.

[afaber12]

Maybe my brain is enfeebled from a long day at "real" work, but I don't see how my proposed alternative would violate any of the DH-related rules.

 

I accept that Rule 6.10b5 doesn't explicitly cover the situation of the DH taking the field and replacing a fielder, a different fielder going to the mound, and the original pitcher staying in the game but elsewhere on defence. But there's nothing that says a particular substitution/fielding change can't immediately be followed by another one, except where it involves a pitcher being replaced and the new pitcher being required to pitch until the batter (or PH for him) completes his at bat or the side is retired under Rule 3.05b.

 

The DH takes the field and replaces whoever is coming out of the game. The DH role is ended, and the starting DH is now a fielder (say F3). Then the pitcher switches with another fielder (say F7 -> F1, F1 -> F7), which doesn't affect anyone else. Where's the issue?