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Distractions
by Dave
Monday, April 21, 2008
I'd like to talk about a subject today which is somewhat uncomfortable and about which there is likely to be some disagreement. It involves player conduct during a game and a more or less infrequently invoked point about the rules of the game. The issue is about the borderline between good old fashioned cheering and good old fashioned heckling, particularly of the batter.
I was watching a Friday night baseball game between two rival schools when I witnessed something I'd never seen nor heard before. The schools definitely don't like each other. They're located in the same town. They play in the same division of a larger conference and have about the same records within that conference. Neither team has a realistic shot to vie for the title of their division, the overall conference, the county, or respective state divisions.
Still, emotions were extremely high. It was Friday night, after all. Several hundred people stood along the sidelines. The game was important to both teams from an emotional point of view. And from the very first pitch, the cheering was spirited to say the least.
The element of the game which I had never witnessed before came from the dugout of one of the teams. This was, of course, a varsity game but neither the freshmen nor JV teams had games at the same time. So both benches were populated with many more players than usual. The one team was extremely loud about their cheering and that's to be expected. But what I saw, what I didn't like, one reason for this writing, is one team was riding the pitcher in a manner which was blatant, rude, and uncalled for. They did the same thing to batters when their defense was in the field.
The razzing involved a series of cheers which were quite obviously intended to throw the pitcher's rhythm off rather than pump up their team's batters, and vice versa. I don't know how to describe it in words but it was organized, loud, constant, and clearly not about "cheering." There were a number of words from the foul language dictionary which were used in this razzing. The words were yelled in two syllables with one or two consenants changed so that the words would not be spoken (yelled) precisely but they were clearly audible. It was obnoxious, uncalled for, rude, profane, very much bush league, and probably illegal.
I spoke with the father of one kid from the opposing team and he said, "our kids would never engage in such a thing. They don't do that ... ever. They wouldn't, they couldn't. If they started to, the seniors would put a stop to it immediately."
But enough about baseball - by the way, the team which did not engage in profane razzing won the game.
I mention this story really as a peripheral way of bringing up a related topic in fastpitch softball. I was at a "friendly" the very next day when the subject came up. I was talking to another parent from our team during a lull in our game. She looked out at an adjacent field and noticed something the team in the field was doing. She claimed the fielders were all moving before the pitch was released in order to distract the batters. I never saw that happen. I think she was mistaken.
She went on to tell me about a team her daughter had been involved with which engaged in such a deliberate practice. The girls would all assume a ready position well before the pitch, stand still and then right before the pitcher released the ball, they would all take a synchronized step to the left or right (as predetermined) in order to "cause the field to move" and, thereby, distract the batter.
I replied to the parent, "that sounds like an interestintg strategy but it also happens to be illegal." She became upset with my attitude of superiority and demanded that I show her that in the rulebook. I don't walk around to my kids games with rulebooks at the ready unless I am coaching. At this "friendly" I was not a coach. So I told her I would have to get back to her. I think she gained comfort from the fact that I could not produce the rule right there and then, on the spot. But I did provide that rule for her as soon as I returned home at the end of the day. It was easy to find.
We play a lot of Pony (Protect Our Nation's Youth) so the easiest thing for me to do was find it in the Pony rulebook. (My several rulebooks are over there someplace underneath that pile of piles of material!) Pony Rule 7, Sec. 7 reads:"Note: It is an illegal pitch if a fielder takes up a position in the batter's line of vision or, with deliberate unsportsmanlike intent, act(s) in a manner to distract the batter. A pitch does not have to be released. The offending player shall be ejected from the game and an illegal pitch shall be declared."
Anticipating her objection of my use of the Pony rulebook, I decided to check and see what other rulebooks say. As an aside, the next day I was involved with a discussion with someone regarding another arcane rule. I was able to quote the correct rule on the subject from the Pony rulebook and this fellow reacted the way many do when a debate doesn't work out their way. He claimed that the rule was different in ASA and that was what he was talking about. He was wrong. The identical rule from Pony appears verbatim in the ASA rulebook. I'll have to show him the next time I see him. I get uncomfortable when people make things up just to win a debate when the issue is important enough to debate in the first place.
The rule quoted above regarding fielders not permitted to distract a batter with deliberate unsportsmanlike intent is a general one. I expected something along the same lines in several rulebooks but not necessarily the precise wording. Still I decided to Google "act in a manner to distract the batter" and see what popped out.
The first hit I received involved the official rules of this summer's Olympic games. Those rules state:"No manager, player, substitute, coach, trainer or batboy shall at any time, whether from the bench, the coach's box or on the playing field. No fielder shall take a position in the batter's line of vision, and with deliberate unsportsmanlike intent, act in a manner to distract the batter."
The English doesn't seem to make sense. I think there are some difficulties with the translation. I think there should be a comma after "playing field" and before "No fielder" but it doesn't really matter. Clearly the same issue is addressed.
I was also able to locate the rule in the NCAA rulebook. NCAA softball Rule 9.4.2.6 reads:"A fielder shall not position herself in the batter's line of vision or act in a manner to distract the batter.
EFFECT - Delayed dead ball is signaled. If the batter contacts the ball and reaches first base safely and each other runner has advanced at least one base on the batted ball, all action as a result of the batted ball stands. Once a runner has passed a base, she is considered to have reached that base, even if she missed it.
If the batter does not reach first base safely or if one of the other runners does not advance at least one base, the coach of the offensive team has the option of taking the result of the play or awarding a ball to the batter and advancing each other runner one base. If the pitch is 'Ball four' or hits the batter, the batter is awarded first base, and each runner is awarded one base.
The pitch does not have to be released.
The umpire shall issue a warning to the offending individual and notify her coach. Subsequent violation by the same individual shall result in ejection."
I think it is fair to assume, without going through the drudgery, that this rule exists in about every softball rulebook there is without checking them all. The rule also exist in MLB and there is an interesting story to go with that!
In 1960, Jim Piersall, an outfielder qith the Cleveland Indians whose sanity has sometimes been called into question was in the field when Ted Williams stepped into the batter's box. Piersall ran with flailing arms from left to center as the pitch was thrown to Williams. As the second pitch was thrown, he sprinted to center again. An ump named Jim Hurley warned him to stop it. Piersall used sign language to reply to the warning. Hurley ejected Piersall. After the game Hurley read from the MLB rulebook, rule 406-B, on page 25: "No fielder shall take a position in the batter's line of vision and with deliberate, unsportsmanlike intent act in a manner to distract the batter. Penalty - the offender shall be removed."
So now, as Paul Harvey says, you know the rest of the story. The bottom line is you are not allowed to distract hitters. You're also not allowed to distract fielders. "You" means players, coaches, and fans on the sideline.
I won't bore you with the details from the various rulebooks - this writing is long enough already. Suffice it to say that rules regarding interference typically cover "players not currently in the game, catchers, umpires, and spectators" equally. The same is true of heckling players in the game whether done by opposing players, coaches or fans. You just cannot try to participate and change the outcome of a play by doing something intended to throw a player off.
When I was a kid, it was fairly common for people at games to interact with players in the field. Some of that involved deliberate attempts to distract players so the favored team could win the game. I was sometimes the object of the attempted distraction. My father would get furious if the efforts of fans ever caused me to so much as smirk or look away from the field. I've told you that he would call me "rabbit ears" when that happened. He told me that this was all "just a part of the game" and I had better get used to it or I should quit the game. That's not true. It isn't a part of the game. It isn't allowed.
A few weeks ago, I was watching a high school softball game in which there was a routine pop-up to short. Several fans and parents of the offensive team were standing in a position near the defensive team's bench by third base in order to watch multiple games going on at this and adjacent fields. One of the spectators, seeing the pop-up, yelled "DROP" at the last moment before the fielder caught the ball. It wasn't clear to me who exactly had yelled but I could see by the folks in that general area that it was probably a parent of a player. I understand the emotion of the moment but there really is no room for this in the game. Let the players play and skip the fan theatrics.Labels: Conduct, interference, obstruction, parents, umpiring
 
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