It has nothing to do with any association I would think, but USA/ASA intentionality dropping a ball in order to turn a double play, if it was blankly a dropped ball. Batter is out runners stay in their position. Second offense the unsportsmanlike rule would be called and the player committing the act would be ejected from the game. It don’t have to be any local league rule. If the same team makes this a habit, a few ejections and forfeits will end it rather quickly.It's a church co-ed rec league. We like to keep it recreational and fun, and don't want unsportsmanlike behaviour. Last year a team played aggressively, including blatantly intentionally dropped balls to get double plays. So we are discussing what to put in the rules to deal with this.
Calling dead ball and out, does make it a simpler rule, but it also gives the defense an out without making any play, and no penalty for the behaviour.
One idea discussed was to call delayed dead ball, let the plays go through, then negate the leading out if out(s) were made. That's to make sure the team doing the intentional drop does not gain something.
It has nothing to do with any association I would think, but USA/ASA intentionality dropping a ball in order to turn a double play, if it was blankly a dropped ball. Batter is out runners stay in their position. Second offense the unsportsmanlike rule would be called and the player committing the act would be ejected from the game. It don’t have to be any local league rule. If the same team makes this a habit, a few ejections and forfeits will end it rather quickly.
That was my point. unless the fielder let's it bounce, 9/10 times it's going to get called a catch. Not that I would be upset if my teammate didn't run and they doubled him up. No argument either way.
Don't I know it. Kind of funny to see that post from 6 years ago when I first started, I have since caught that same UIC giving me bad information, even to the point of telling me that there was not OE at E Nationals last year. I am attending a National Rules clinic this saturday with the National UIC. I believe he will cover this as well, if not I'll ask. I was told a rule interpretation last year by two Conference umpires that directly contradicts what is written in the book. I hope to get some clarification on a few of these.Sorry for the delayed response. I took a new job, and can't surf the forums like I used to during working hours.
I seem to remember either a case play or a test question from USSSA that specifically referenced the ball hitting the pocket of the glove. It's been a while, but maybe I can find it.
But allow me to be blunt here. It's been my experience that USSSA tends to make **** up as they go. Talk with one UIC, you get told one thing. Talk with another UIC, get told another. Ask a question to their national rules interpreter, and the answer you get completely flies in the face of what's written in the book, plain as day, right there in black and white.
So even if I do find the citation, don't count on it sticking. I'm sure that if it happens during Worlds and some key team fusses loudly enough, whoever's in charge will make something up just to keep them playing U-Trip.
Direct from the National UIC. The ball has to hit the glove to be considered intentionally dropped. It doesn't have to be caught, it can be batted or directed, but it must be touched.
The most common example in case plays that I've seen is if a fielder lets the ball hit the back of his glove to knock the ball to the ground. For the majority of rule sets, this would be ruled as an intentionally dropped ball.
In USA softball it would not be, since the ball wasn't first caught (or, if you believe their website, the ball didn't hit the pocket of the glove).
Are these 2 statements contradicting each other? As a new USA umpire, I want to make sure I have this call correct as I see it happen around here more than I care to.
As I noted in my first post, different sanctioning bodies have different definitions of a dropped ball. Some say it has to be caught first, others don't.