Granting "Time"

[Catch18]

Add me to the list of guys who don't grant time EVERY TIME it is asked for. Big school V game the other night, play at home where f1 is backing up f2, f2 hands f1 the ball and he asks for time (to walk back to the mound) I say, "do you need a conference " he responds "no" I said, then no timeout. Coach says, "I've been doing this 33 years and never had time not granted!" I said "reset your clock. I just didn't grant it" (we have a good rapport) . 
He wasn't happy and between innings as he was bringing me balls, he says that they coach their kids to ask for time every time the ball comes back to the infield. Ughhh

Nice.

I tell them I’m not the 10th defensive player and you’re not using me to stop the offense from running on you.

[JSam21]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:27 AM, TheRockawayKid said:

MLB rulset can do a quick pitch. NCAA can as well. 

5.07 (a)(2)If, however, in the umpire’s judgment, a pitcher
delivers the ball in a deliberate effort to catch the batter off
guard, this delivery shall be deemed a quick pitch, for which the
penalty is a ball.

 

6.02(a)(5) comment: A quick pitch is an illegal pitch.
Umpires will judge a quick pitch as one delivered before the
batter is reasonably set in the batter’s box. With runners on base
the penalty is a balk; with no runners on base, it is a ball. The
quick pitch is dangerous and should not be permitted

As far as calling a quick pitch, this is something that would have been a problem in 2015, but probably wouldn't right now. To a coach, just say, "it's basically the Scherzer rule. It's a penalty if you're pitching before the batter has a chance to get ready." 

I think of it akin to RLI. Seven years ago, it probably would have gotten you an angry coach. But now it's been called in the World Series multiple times, and coaches have accepted that the rule may be called. I had a 15U game a few years ago, and my partner called RLI. Kid started to argue, but head coach at third base yelled at him, "shut up. It's a stupid rule, but he got the rule right." 

So… by calling time?

[The Man in Blue]

5 hours ago, concertman1971 said:

Add me to the list of guys who don't grant time EVERY TIME it is asked for. Big school V game the other night, play at home where f1 is backing up f2, f2 hands f1 the ball and he asks for time (to walk back to the mound) I say, "do you need a conference " he responds "no" I said, then no timeout. Coach says, "I've been doing this 33 years and never had time not granted!" I said "reset your clock. I just didn't grant it" (we have a good rapport) . 

He wasn't happy and between innings as he was bringing me balls, he says that they coach their kids to ask for time every time the ball comes back to the infield. Ughhh

 

I'm glad he teaches them to be polite.  Now, let's teach them to play ball.

[Kevin_K]

14 hours ago, Catch18 said:

Nice.

I tell them I’m not the 10th defensive player and you’re not using me to stop the offense from running on you.

I see it differently. I am the 10th defensive player and I don't want a chance to get a cheap out to be wasted by taking the ball out of play.

[Catch18]

I see it differently. I am the 10th defensive player and I don't want a chance to get a cheap out to be wasted by taking the ball out of play.

Which is the exact thing I said. I’m not calling time for the defense. If the offense runs, they run - get a put out on your own. Sometimes it’s earned, sometimes it’s cheap. It boils down to this: there’s no bona fide reason to call time.

[Thatsnotyou]

I always ask the fielder asking for time “for what purpose?” or “why?”. 9/10 they don’t have an answer and just stare and shake their head, as now the umpire is just a mean guy.  
 

1/10 they say to throw the ball back to the pitcher. “So throw it back”. 

[834k3r]

Had an F6 ask for time in the middle of an inning (I was BU). I granted it, assuming the coach was going to come out as well. Nope. All he wanted to do was talk about a potential pickoff play on R2. Lesson learned.

Couple batters later, F6 asks for time. I decline, saying "you don't need me to call time for that."

We've all heard stories about why we don't call time when F2 is giving signals for a R1/R3 situation. Happened to me recently. F2 comes out in front of the plate, gives his signals and as he's finishing, F1 makes a great throw to F3. R1 was out before he knew what happened.

[TheRockawayKid]

On 5/2/2023 at 11:13 PM, JSam21 said:

So… by calling time?

Sure. But if we enforce the penalty of a quick pitch (ball or balk), we are less likely to see situations where batters need to call time because the pitcher rushes them. Many of us are already good at making sure a batter can't request time late in order to mess with a pitcher. I'm guilty of this too, but I need to start getting better at making sure a pitcher can't mess with a batter by quick pitching -- and I know I have the rule book to back me up, and exactly how to cite it to coaches or players who otherwise wouldn't understand, without having to pick up the bad end of the stick. 

[calablue]

On 4/24/2023 at 10:53 PM, UMP45 said:

Stop the  pitcher from pitching.

And again I ask, how do you do that without stopping play?

[SeeingEyeDog]

On 5/2/2023 at 6:04 PM, concertman1971 said:

Add me to the list of guys who don't grant time EVERY TIME it is asked for. Big school V game the other night, play at home where f1 is backing up f2, f2 hands f1 the ball and he asks for time (to walk back to the mound) I say, "do you need a conference " he responds "no" I said, then no timeout. Coach says, "I've been doing this 33 years and never had time not granted!" I said "reset your clock. I just didn't grant it" (we have a good rapport) . 

He wasn't happy and between innings as he was bringing me balls, he says that they coach their kids to ask for time every time the ball comes back to the infield. Ughhh

Every market around the country is different and every coach has his own style...

It is just NOT my market's culture for a "big school V" program to have a team where an accepted practice is asking for time every time the ball comes back to the infield...and good on YOU for not granting it here. Our culture here weeds this nonsense out of the game in 13U. We have our own set of unique problems so, it's not meant as a criticism just...wowzers is my overall reaction.

~Dawg

[UMP45]

4 hours ago, calablue said:

And again I ask, how do you do that without stopping play?

You're preventing a quick pith.

[cjroman]

Our association trains us to keep the ball in play as much as possible. I can't stand to see a player dive  back on a routine pickoff attempt and that free hand starts waiving frantically asking for time before you can even signal safe.  Unless you are injured or need to tie a shoe, I'm generally not granting time in the field. Got dirt down your uni?  Walk it back up and shake it out while standing on the bag. Same for catchers calling 1st-3rd defenses, no time.

One thing that grinds my gears is the 12/13 year old that is armored up like a young knight at the plate, legs out a double, then waits until the last second to call time to take off the elbow guard, leg guard, wrist guard and put on the oven mitt. You just ran 140/180 feet with it on...some of it is just fluff to look cool. 

My son took pitches in consecutive tournament games when he was 12u off the elbow. He wore an elbow guard until it healed, then he stopped wearing it. This year in high school practice (Junior) he fouled one off his shin with the pitching machine set at 90, I asked him if he wanted a leg guard while it healed, he said it wasn't necessary. When I coached and had 1st, I introduced my players to their back pockets, because that's where your nasty batting gloves go when you get to first...I'm not holding them for you. 

[The Man in Blue]

21 hours ago, UMP45 said:

You're preventing a quick pith.

[Umpy]

Is not granting time unnecessarily something you guys cover in plate meetings?

I was doing a Little League end of season tournament game last night and declined to grant time to a kid who came into second on a stand-up double and his coach lost his mind, started yelling and screaming about having to grant time and then went to my partner to get time.  My partner seeing the coach panicking asking for time thought like a dog had wandered onto the field or something so just granted time immediately.

Made me think maybe some more careful game management techniques needed to be employed.

[Velho]

15 minutes ago, Umpy said:

Is not granting time unnecessarily something you guys cover in plate meetings?

Made me think maybe some more careful game management techniques needed to be employed.

I follow the thought. I subscribe to the "less is more" at the plate meeting since the list of things that could be covered is endless.

Teams should already know better but, if not, we'll teach them in the moment ("Nice hit Johnny. Why do you need time?" or "Hey short, throw the ball to the pitcher, just throw it in").

The next crew will thank you.

[BigBlue4u]

1 hour ago, Velho said:

I follow the thought. I subscribe to the "less is more" at the plate meeting since the list of things that could be covered is endless.

Teams should already know better but, if not, we'll teach them in the moment ("Nice hit Johnny. Why do you need time?" or "Hey short, throw the ball to the pitcher, just throw it in").

The next crew will thank you.

One way of stopping unnecessary requesting of "time," is to ask the runner why he wants time. 95% of the time, the answer will be "no."

[The Man in Blue]

5 hours ago, Umpy said:

Is not granting time unnecessarily something you guys cover in plate meetings?

 

No, that takes time.

[MadMax]

17 hours ago, Umpy said:

Is not granting time unnecessarily something you guys cover in plate meetings?

Same with “how to approach an Umpire if (when) you’re questioning (don’t like) a call”… 

Same with “delineating the strike zone”… 

Same with “explaining and defining sportsmanship”… unless you’re in New Jersey ( @Richvee, @Kevin_K, etc)… 

Same with any prohibitions on “jewelry”, especially if you yourself are wearing a (gaudy) watch… 

Same with any promptings of “hustle”, especially when you’re a lazy slug 🐌, were late to the plate meeting, and are known for spending most of your idle time talking to the fence and/or your partner… 

All completely unnecessary at / in a plate meeting. 

[beerguy55]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

All completely unnecessary at / in a plate meeting.

I'd say most are necessary...but the effort is pointless.  Coach is forgetting all of it before he's turned to walk back to his bench.

[Richvee]

8 hours ago, MadMax said:

Same with “how to approach an Umpire if (when) you’re questioning (don’t like) a call”… 

Same with “delineating the strike zone”… 

Same with “explaining and defining sportsmanship”… unless you’re in New Jersey ( @Richvee, @Kevin_K, etc)… 

Same with any prohibitions on “jewelry”, especially if you yourself are wearing a (gaudy) watch… 

Same with any promptings of “hustle”, especially when you’re a lazy slug 🐌, were late to the plate meeting, and are known for spending most of your idle time talking to the fence and/or your partner… 

All completely unnecessary at / in a plate meeting. 

Our sportsmanship statement isn't t at the plater meeting anymore. It's pregame at each team's dugout. 🙄

[Richvee]

Just now, Richvee said:

Our sportsmanship statement isn't t at the plate meeting anymore. It's pregame at each team's dugout. 🙄

 

[Vegas_Ump]

On 5/4/2023 at 11:57 AM, 834k3r said:

Had an F6 ask for time in the middle of an inning (I was BU). I granted it, assuming the coach was going to come out as well. Nope. All he wanted to do was talk about a potential pickoff play on R2. Lesson learned.

Couple batters later, F6 asks for time. I decline, saying "you don't need me to call time for that."

We've all heard stories about why we don't call time when F2 is giving signals for a R1/R3 situation. Happened to me recently. F2 comes out in front of the plate, gives his signals and as he's finishing, F1 makes a great throw to F3. R1 was out before he knew what happened.

In WR Championship (I think in 2016), the infield did NOT call time, nor did they ask for it.  Tieing run is at 3B and he bolts for home!  That would have tied the game with all the infielders taking a nap!

However, Coacher's INT was called for the game-ending third out!  And everyone I talked to said it was a righteous call!  I saw it on TV and observed the coach pushing the runner no less than three times before he finally bolted towards home.

Got to give the offense a chance to try to get a cheap run, or by the same token, allow the defense to get a "gimme" for an out.

That's how the game is played!

Mike

Las Vegas

[Velho]

5 hours ago, Vegas_Ump said:

In WR Championship (I think in 2016), the infield did NOT call time, nor did they ask for it.  Tieing run is at 3B and he bolts for home!  That would have tied the game with all the infielders taking a nap!

However, Coacher's INT was called for the game-ending third out!  And everyone I talked to said it was a righteous call!  I saw it on TV and observed the coach pushing the runner no less than three times before he finally bolted towards home.

For those not sure, "WR" is Little League Western Regional. It was 2015 https://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/08/little-league-coach-blunder-costs-team-game 

I use this as a warning case play for coaches I see coming close to doing this. I get the most aghast look when I tell them about it. They keep their hands behind their back the rest of the game. LOL

[beerguy55]

Here's the video...

Go to 2:05 to see a good look at the players asking for time, and the coach "assisting" the runner.

 

 

[Velho]

1 hour ago, beerguy55 said:

Go to 2:05 to see a good look at the players asking for time, and the coach "assisting" the runner.

Completely the right call.