Makina wrote:bigbaddude wrote:Makina wrote:The umpire should never announce last batter. Time has either expired or there is time left - he does not know if the batter will hit a HR on the 1st pitch, thus 2 seconds has run-off or whether it will be a 15 pitch battle and 5 minutes has run off.
If asked how much time is left, he should tell them how much time is left as a courtesy. Once time has expired, the PU then announces "Game Over, time has expired"
Otherwise a pretty chicken move on part of the defensive coach.
Wrong..... In a showcase setting, with the rules "finish the batter", what is the PU suppose to do? Most of the time when there is less than a minute to go, the umpire states "last batter". I think if there are clocks visibly on the scoreboard, he/she shouldn't have to announce "last batter", just let it play out. If no clocks on the scoreboard, let them make the decision to say "game over" after the girl at bat has finished her turn. I witnessed 18U Gold caoches telling their player to keep running because the last batter had been announced. I thought that was rather bush league to say the least. 6U, 8U, yes but not 18U Gold.
I am in total agreement rather it is a pool game or showcase, the umpire should call the game after time has expired and the batter has finished her turn at bat. This would eliminate a lot of what this thread is about. But then again, that makes too much sense.
Is that true?
Wrong? All the showcases I attend are drop dead and never last batter? I guess this must be an East Coast rule. 6u, 8u showcase tournaments, wow! Where can I get my kid in one of those tournaments! Even if a scoreboard has the time, the official time is always kept by the plate umpire's time piece.
Texas is East Coast? Do they teach geography anymore?
And not to speak for Bigbaddude, but I did not understand him to say the 6U and 8U had showcases. IMHO he was saying the practice of "keep running" after the umpire announced last batter was probably acceptable in 6U or 8U but not so much in 18U. You probably already knew that but since he told you "wrong" you appear to have gotten butt hurt about being told you were wrong and decided to try and prove him wrong with a lame argument.
But you bring up another point with your drop dead vs finish the batter statement. You said chicken shit move by the defensive coach, but appear to have no problem with the umpire taking the bat out of the players hand. I would have more of an issue with an umpire that will stop a game with a batter in the middle of an AB, than I do with a pitcher pitching around a batter.
Is that true??? (Sorry BBD for stealing your tagline)