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Catcher backup


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Posted

Is there a rule for R.B.I. junior league or any league that says you can't put a catcher behind the catcher as long as you have correct number of players on field. Like a catchers helper type

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Posted

The answer to your general question is yes; all major rule sets have a rule that would prohibit your idea of positioning two (or more) players in foul territory.

I cannot give you an exact RBI rule citation because it seems each age group has its own rules. I found one site that said RBI baseball uses NFHS playing rules and adds its own administrative rules. So here's the relevant NFHS (high school) rule--

2023 NFHS rule 1-1-4

At the time of the pitch, all fielders shall be on fair ground except the catcher who shall be in the catcher's box. A fielder is in fair ground when at least one foot is touching fair ground.

PENALTY:  Illegal pitch.

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Posted
7 hours ago, Monsters said:

Is there a rule for R.B.I. junior league or any league that says you can't put a catcher behind the catcher as long as you have correct number of players on field. Like a catchers helper type

The answer has been given - so, I'll add that even if you could (and there are ways to get around this rule), you would never want to do this.  Fundamentally, it's poor defense management, and just poor tactics from a coaching perspective. At this age a coach's job is to teach the kids proper baseball skills that will take them through the higher age groups and skill levels.  There's really nothing to gain here except you MIGHT prevent a runner scoring from third base on a wild pitch...and I'd posit that that wouldn't happen enough, or work enough, to offset the disadvantage of having one less defender in the field. 

Teach your pitchers to pitch better and teach your catchers to block better.  Those are the long-term skills you want to teach kids at this age...not come up with antics to try to prevent an extra run from coming in.  Let the kid score...the short term gain of preventing this is nothing compared to the long-term ramifications.

 

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Posted
1 hour ago, beerguy55 said:

Teach your pitchers to pitch better and teach your catchers to block better.

:clap:

Umpires will appreciate it.

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Posted

What age is this for?
When my kids played rec ball under the age of 8 we had a parent back there...because you know...catchers can't catch at that age.

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Posted
11 hours ago, beerguy55 said:

The answer has been given - so, I'll add that even if you could (and there are ways to get around this rule), you would never want to do this.  Fundamentally, it's poor defense management, and just poor tactics from a coaching perspective. At this age a coach's job is to teach the kids proper baseball skills that will take them through the higher age groups and skill levels.  There's really nothing to gain here except you MIGHT prevent a runner scoring from third base on a wild pitch...and I'd posit that that wouldn't happen enough, or work enough, to offset the disadvantage of having one less defender in the field. 

Teach your pitchers to pitch better and teach your catchers to block better.  Those are the long-term skills you want to teach kids at this age...not come up with antics to try to prevent an extra run from coming in.  Let the kid score...the short term gain of preventing this is nothing compared to the long-term ramifications.

 

Is there a rule against it or not. Just plain show me the rule

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Posted

@love to ump, @beerguy55… obviously @Monsters wants the OBR/MLB Rule citation, because RBI Juniors plays “Big League” -style baseball! 

So here it is: 

5.02 Fielding Positions 

When the ball is put in play at the start of, or during a game, all fielders other than the catcher [em: singular] shall be on fair territory. 
(a) The catcher [em: singular] shall station himself directly back of the plate. [snip] 

(italicized emphasis mine) 

Note, on two instances, the catcher is singular, not plural, and all other fielders – including the super-special* pitcher – shall (which is MLB -speak for “must”) be in fair territory. Baseball’s been around for 180+ years, and this is not a new rule. You didn’t find some magic loophole of allowance-by-omission, so you can put a “second catcher” back there to affect the other team running on your catcher’s [em: singular, possesive] inability to catch or block pitches. 

 

* - fragile, high-maintenance, flighty, etc.

 

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Posted
3 hours ago, Monsters said:

Is there a rule against it or not. Just plain show me the rule

You have been shown the rule in two codes and it exists in the third real baseball code also. You will have to send us a download of RBI baseball rules to see if that rule exists in the games you play under it although you could read the book also and tell us that local yokel, t-ball or whatever, league doesn't have such a rule and you want to win 8U so bad that you want two players behind HP. 

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Posted
12 hours ago, Monsters said:

Is there a rule against it or not. Just plain show me the rule

You've been shown the exact rule as quoted in two major baseball codes used by youth leagues (OBR and NFHS), which RBI derives - ie. they don't write their own full set of rules...they use existing rules (probably OBR) and then make minor tweaks.  You'd have to get your league administrator to see if there's such a tweak about extra fielders in foul territory (hint - there isn't)

Little League also says in 4.03 "all fielders other than the catcher shall be in fair territory" and "the catcher shall be stationed in the catcher's box".  I'm pretty sure someone could come up with the NCAA rule too, which everyone here will guarantee you will say the same.

So, what part aren't you understanding?  You've been shown the rule, verbatim, in multiple rulesets...you've been explained the meaning and context of the rule, including any possible language interpretations...and you've been explained the reason not to do it, regardless of the rule.

All players but the catcher (singular) MUST be in fair territory.  Not only that...the catcher (singular) MUST be in foul territory, in the catcher's box at time of pitch.  So even if you somehow decided that you could have five catchers (you can't), all of them would be required to be in the the little 4x8 area behind the tip of the plate when the pitch is thrown.

And just for the helluvit - here is the rule from the Official Softball Rules Section 3, just to show a general consistency across the bat sports, in all settings.

NOTE: Players of the team in the field may be stationed anywhere on fair territory, except the catcher, who must be in the catcher's box, and the pitcher, who must be in a legal pitching position at the start of each pitch

What more do you want?  You want the official RBI position, go to them...bring a notary to have it signed and framed on a wall if you need to.

Your snippiness demonstrated in just your second post on this board is unnecessary - keep your entitlement elsewhere.  

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