Here's the origin of the rule...and it had nothing to do with time limits, or even softball, for that matter.
Rules against "delaying or hastening the game" originated in professional baseball in the early part of the 20th century. Naturally, those games weren't on a timer, so the original rule wasn't intended to address time limits.
Forgetting about the clock for a minute, in a non-timed game a team might either stall or purposely make outs when it's to their advantage in several situations. For example:
- In the fifth inning (the length needed to make the game official) and a storm is approaching (possible rain out if the fifth inning isn't completed). If one team has the lead they might want to purposely make outs to get the fifth inning complete, thus making it an official game if the rain hits. Or, if one team is losing, they might try to stall hoping that the rain does hit before the game becomes official.
- Same as bad weather approaching before the game is regulation, you can have incentives to stall or quickly make outs in the final inning of a game if darkness is approaching.
These are the two most common scenarios where delaying or hastening the game might become a strategy for one team or the other. They would come up quite often during a season, especially in the days before field lights and high tech turf.
While these had been common startegies for dealing with foul weather or darkness, once baseball became a professional sport that required fans to shell out hard-earned cash to attend, these tactics didn't sit well with the paying customers. Fans became outraged to see players purposely making outs or stalling. They paid their money to see the best players in the world play ball, not to watch them make a mockery of the game.
The owners need to keep the paying customers happy led to the addition of rules about hastening or delaying the game. These rules still exist in major league baseball (as well as amateur codes). And, when the rules of softball were first put together, they copied many of the existing baseball rules verbatim- including this one.
The softball rule applied to the same kind of situations. There was a long gap before timed games became the norm. With timed games, I think that the rule gets murkey because using a clock isn't what the original rule was designed to address.
In a timed game, if a team purposely makes outs so that another inning can be played, is that hastening the game? How can something that makes more innings be played be considered as "hastening" the game?
If a team stalls, is that delaying the game? The incintive to stall is to prevent another inning from being played. How is playing fewer innings, making the game be shorter and end sooner, "delaying" the game?
Stalling, to me, is usually the worst offense, because it's effect is to "take the bat out of the hands" of your opponent, preventing them from having any chance to catch up. A team normally stalls when they have the lead and want to prevent another inning from being played. This effectively removes any chance for the other team to come back and win the game.
On the other hand, purposely making outs to play another inning gives your opponent another chance to bat. It doesn't prevent the other team from winning.
My gut instinct is the same as some others have stated. Once you introduce a clock into a game, tactics for managing the clock should come into play. As an umpire, I have to enforce this rule, but I think that you can do it within the spirit and intent of the rule. In most cases, if things get out if hand a simple reminder to the coach that such tactics can result in a forfeit takes care of things. I've never had to address it again in a game where I gave such a warning.
