Removing a Player

[Blueump]

Does the coach need to give a reason for a player to be removed from the game?

Situation:  FED rules - A team starts with the minimum number of starting players - no subs are available.  After the first pitch the coach calls for time and one player comes off the field. Coach declares that they will finish the game one player short.  Legal?  What if they batted first and the coach wanted to remove a player - does the removed player need to initially take a spot on the field?

 

My thought is that the players are officially "in the game" at the moment the line-ups are turned in at the pre-game meeting.  If they are playing one short, they can do it any time after that?  Is it any of our business why they are removed?

Edited May 22, 2015 by Blueump

[noumpere]

Not our business.

 

Note that if a sub comes later, they can still continue to play with 8.

[Cav]

A 9-man, NFHS team can pull a starter and continue with eight in the lineup, an out being recorded each time the "empty" spot is due up to bat.  Later, that team can re-enter that starter and once again play with a nine-man lineup.  Or, if another eligible sub were to become available, that sub could enter in the vacant slot and the team could continue with nine, although that is not mandatory; the team could continue with an eight-man lineup even with eligible subs on the bench.  And, the starter would have re-entry privileges. 

 

(I think it was my high school coach in days long past who once told me that he was going to do everything within his power to allow games to be played with eight just so he could "keep me ready on the bench.")

[maven]

The applicable rule (FED) is 4-4-1, which concerns forfeits, and it has a number of associated case plays.

4.4.1 SITUATION A: F8 must leave the game in the sixth inning (a) due to an ankle injury, (b) for band practice or (c) because he was ejected for unsportsmanlike behavior. There are no eligible substitutes available.

RULING: In (a), (b) and (c), the game will be continued with an automatic out being called whenever it is F8's turn at bat. The team may play with eight and if an eligible substitute shows up later, they may return to playing with nine players.

I've emphasized the word "may" in the ruling: they need not return to playing with nine, as noumpere notes above. Coach is not obligated to tell us why F8 left the game. He controls his players.