Stealing Home, Overrun bases, Time
Question
Several rules involved here- (Minor League 9-12,Kid pitch)
Scenario- 5th inning, bases loaded 1 out, pitcher walks the batter, all runners advance. While advancing they all overrun their bases with intention of pursuing next base if opportunity presents itself.
in particular the runner who came from second, advanced to third is know half way down line to mess with catcher & pitcher. The scenario happened 3-4 times prior all resulting in catcher starring and walking him back then giving ball to pitcher.
Here is the twist, as "Ball 4 was called" and the runners are advancing, an opposing coach (not manager) calls
time and is already walking towards field, his catcher starts walking towards him while my runner is being very eager towards home. I send my runner on home because my runners are still actively pursuing the next base and a verbal time was not awarded by the home umpire.
my runner goes in to dug out, at same time opposing coach ask why? I say you can not call time while runners are advancing and ball is in play, he acknowledges that and goes back before consulting with his players.
He appeals and the Umpire says he called time, and makes runner go back to third.
Issues I see and want clarification on please-
#1-Manager must ask for Time not a coach?
#2 Umpire may only "Award" time for a legal interruption?
#3- Was this a legal interruption?
#4- When is ball dead and when do runners have to go back to their base in this scenario?
As you can see it's a complex scenario, Your assistance is much appreciated.
I failed to mention that it was the tying run that was disallowed, which resulted in a loss. But that of course is not factored.
Answer
Chad,
I'm not familiar with the rules the league you mention uses, but I would assume it's a modified version of a ruleset that's already out there (most likely OBR -- Official Baseball Rules -- or NFHS -- National Federation of High Schools). Both rulesets have the same answer for the questions.
Both OBR and NFHS allow any player or coach to request time. However, time isn't granted until an umpire calls time. Umpires are taught to not call time when requested until all playing action has ended on the field. In this scenario, the umpire should not have called time, as you still had players advancing or attempting to advance to bases.
However, the umpire has full control over when time is called. While it may have been wrong to call it then, you will see this done even in the Major Leagues. It's common for an umpire to call time in this scenario before the players advance to their bases. Usually, players don't attempt an extra base in these situations, so there's no harm in calling it.
A ball is dead and runners return to their proper base when the umpire calls time. You can't argue that your player was attempting an extra base, and you won't be awarded anything other than what they were already awarded or advanced to.
subsitutions
coaching