If someone is injured do you take the extra base?

[softballphreak]

Two weeks ago, I had a line drive straight back at me at pitcher. Moved the glove the wrong way and copped the ball just under the kneecap. Went down like a ton of bricks and the ball went off somewhere while the second base ran to me to make sure I was OK. Thankfully was OKish (an inch higher and I would have shattered the kneecap!) and continued pitching (though I haven't pitched that slow since I was 12! Just had zero, zero speed but since our other pitcher wasn't there had no choice) It wasn't until after I was walking back to the plate that I realised the runner was on second.

Is it just me or is that just poor sportsmanship? That you hit someone hard enough that they go down (and both coaches said afterwards they thought it had shattered the kneecap because of the sound it made on impact) and you run/send someone to second?

It's on the umpires. If, in their judgment, time is called, I believe the runners should be where they were when time was called. Runners don't have time to do physicals during the play.

 

[chinamigarden]

I will say that when we have a lead of more than 10-13 points our HC and I (AC) will have the girls work on aspects of their game that they are not used to. We will place them at different postions and change what they would normaly do at bat, power hitters will bunt or slap, slappers will hit away, those that normaly bat from the right will hit lefty and vice versa.

So what your saying JAD is Coach Murphy is UNSPORTSMAN for allowing his team to score more points than that of his oppenent?
If you lose by 1 point or a 100, is it still not a loss? My job is to coach my team to win, I would hope that is your goal as a parent or coach as well. That is why we are all in this game right?

I see no benefit to my dd to be taught that beating a team by 100 (points ) is no different then beating them by 1. Yes, I want to win when I am coaching and I want my dd to win at all times. But the day I start to justify unsportsmanlike activities with statements like yours, I hope one of my friends cares enough to smack me upside the head and straighten me out.

Going back to one of your earlier assertions that we wouldn't be having this talk if it was about boys.
The original poster is a woman, not a girl, she plays in Australia and if I remember correctly she has played with and against some international players as well as coached an age group State team. We are not having this conversation based on what happened in podunk alabama rec league, its a legitimate discussion of softball etiquette

 

[MTR]

It's on the umpires. If, in their judgment, time is called, I believe the runners should be where they were when time was called. Runners don't have time to do physicals during the play.

That is not the rule. If the umpire prematurely stops play due to an injury, the umpire places the runners on the base they believe the runner would have safely reached had time not been called.

 

[softballphreak]

That is not the rule. If the umpire prematurely stops play due to an injury, the umpire places the runners on the base they believe the runner would have safely reached had time not been called.

That was my point, anyway; that the runners would still be running; not stopping because of the injury to the pitcher.

 

[Lozza]

The original poster is a woman, not a girl, she plays in Australia and if I remember correctly she has played with and against some international players as well as coached an age group State team. We are not having this conversation based on what happened in podunk alabama rec league, its a legitimate discussion of softball etiquette

Correct. This is my local rec Saturday game. Not my state league games. At SL players on my team would have got the ball first. In the rec league, where its played more for fun, my teammates where more concerned for me at the time. (I believe in SL it would have been a player on the oppisite side of the diamond who would have been there first)

Using MTRs example she would have only reached first. The ball deflected off me straight to where second base was. If it hasn't hit me it would have gone straight to centre for a single.

 

[softballphreak]

Correct. This is my local rec Saturday game. Not my state league games. At SL players on my team would have got the ball first. In the rec league, where its played more for fun, my teammates where more concerned for me at the time. (I believe in SL it would have been a player on the oppisite side of the diamond who would have been there first)

Using MTRs example she would have only reached first. The ball deflected off me straight to where second base was. If it hasn't hit me it would have gone straight to centre for a single.

If the ball deflects off of a player it is still a live ball. If the runner got to second, they're at second. If the umpire didn't call time until after that, the runner should be able to keep that base or whatever base they got while the ball was in play.

 

[Rocketech1]

Lozza, sorry you got injured on the play and maybe in a rec league with friends the play should have been stopped. However, I am a competitive person and would expect the other team to play me hard and take the extra base as long as the ball was live and the umpires continued play. I would not think it unsportsmanlike like unless a) they knew you were seriously injured (eg., line drive drive to the head) b) they continued to take extra bases.

My second point addresses the comment that someone made that teams should not run up the score on other teams because its in poor taste and unsportsmanlike. I disagree. If I am losing, I never want a team to take pity on my team. No matter the team sport, I always play hard until the last out no matter what the score is. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that and if the other team is up 10 runs on us, so be it. It's my fault if I cannot be competitive and stop them from scoring. Please don't blame the other team for "running up the score", shame on me for losing so bad. Nothing wrong with losing, even a bad loss, it's a character builder and wake up call for teams to get better and or realize they entered the wrong tournament or classification. We are always so quick to blame others for our failures.

 

[cuzmail]

Not directly related, but I can tell you as an umpire, if I see a player hit in the head and immediately go down, I'm killing the play right there and getting somebody out there to take care of the player.

I have notice an increase in pre game umpire instrutions at the coach's meeting regarding this. Most umps are now saying that if you see an injury like that do not wait for time to be called. Just go out and see about the player. He/she will call the play dead and take care of the situation.

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

"Do unto the other team's girls what you would want done to yours"

Twenty years from now your players will not remember if you scored every run that you could have in a particular game.
They will remember if you acted like scoring runs was more important to you than your players are.

 

[Comp]

Reverse the situation. Speedy batter rips one into the gap, easily going to be a stand up double, possibly even a triple. As she is rounding 1st base she rolls her ankle and goes down in a pile on the field. To be completely "sportsmanlike", does the defense not tag her out and ask the umpire to put her or a sub on 2nd or 3rd base?