Line Up Rules

[Guest rockytoped@aol.com]

Can a player be scratched from the line up without the batter entering the game once the game has started? All 11 players on roster were on the lineup as available hitters so there are no players to sub with. To be clear the player never took the field or stepped into the batters box to hit and was not going to play at any point in that game.

[beerguy55]

The answer is "yes".

The answer to "what happens next?" is "It depends".

I've seen tournaments and leagues where you simply shift/compress the lineup, and I've seen others where you rename the player to Otto Owt.

 

Edit: I've also seen tourneys/leagues where it doesn't matter if the batter has played/batted....same thing, some rules you just shift/compress the lineup, others he becomes an auto out.

 

Typically, when it goes to "auto out" the player can return...when it compresses, they can't.

 

[aaluck]

3 hours ago, Guest rockytoped@aol.com said:

All 11 players on roster were on the lineup as available hitters so there are no players to sub with.

I'm assuming LL baseball with all 11 batting. Kind of need the rule set to determine, as stated by @beerguy55.  Back when I was coaching youth baseball the answer depended on the reason. If he's on the lineup and doesn't show up, no out. Most any other reason out.

[MadMax]

5 hours ago, aaluck said:

I'm assuming LL baseball with all 11 batting.

I'd assume completely the opposite, something very much not Little League. A number of tournament series, travel ball leagues, local leagues, showcase & stat-driven series, or non-sanctioned non-Varsity (think: Freshman ball, or scrimmage, or scout-team) games will resort to a bat-everybody lineup. In these games, there is more emphasis on participation, less on penalty. Some have an accommodation for compressing the lineup (as @beerguy55 mentions) as a withdrawal, typically by injury, but could also be due to mom showing up to take Bobby off to his band recital. 

There have been leagues I've worked in that have a "bat all players visible" policy – if they're in the dugout (area) at the start of the game, they're in the lineup; no holding any subs out. If you show up with 9, you bat 9. If you show up with 15, you bat all 15. When it comes to the minimum 9, if any withdrawals / compressions of the lineup result in less than 9 players, then those lines become Automatic Outs. If, however, the team has greater than 9 after an injury withdrawal, there is no penalty. The health of the player is more important than imperiling him simply because his spot would be an out otherwise. 

How fair is it to a team that one of their players gets plunked, or cleated, or is involved in a collision such that he requires medical attention or observation beyond the scope and involvement of this game, only for his spot to be an Out, "just because"? It isn't. Understand the context of the game you're calling, or participating in, and be adaptable. 

[aaluck]

15 hours ago, MadMax said:

I'd assume completely the opposite, something very much not Little League. A number of tournament series, travel ball leagues, local leagues, showcase & stat-driven series, or non-sanctioned non-Varsity (think: Freshman ball, or scrimmage, or scout-team) games will resort to a bat-everybody lineup.

Got it.  Never seen that outside of youth baseball--but I don't work tournaments you listed examples of.