WHAT IS DROP DEAD?

[GIMNEPIWO]

I would read the tournament rules which u should have been given when u checked the team in. Sounds like both games were on the same day, so the post about different drop dead rules from one day to next does not seem valid. You should have asked TD where in the rules does drop dead means inning must be completed. If this was an elimination game then the TD is probably right, if during bracket play then I guess he can make up his own rules.

As you went on to point out, pool play and elimination and championship rules, be they same day or not, may differ ... Which is really what I meant with my Saturday/Sunday reference ...

[coachEd]

Some umpires dont seem to get it right. We have seen umpires call the game mid-batter in a friendly with a drop dead time limit. Since friendly results are meaningless, why not just let the kid finish her at-bat, then call the game. Some umps have done this as a courtesy; others just call the game.

On the other hand, in a tournament playing a drop dead time, they have to call ball game the second that time expires. We had an umpire fail to do that this past weekend in a tournament and it made a big difference in the result. Home team was down 8-7, batter comes up with 2 outs and 1 minute to go in the drop dead time limit. Batter gets hit by pitch in the hand, blue says it was a foul ball (bad call, but beside the point). It takes the batter a couple minutes to be able to get back in the box and by then, the game was already 2 minutes over the time limit. Blue knows time has expired, but says this is the last batter and we will finish this batter. Batter makes the 3rd out a couple pitches later, game over, home team loses 8-7. Had the ump called ball game when the drop dead time limit expired, the score would have reverted back to a 2-2 tie.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Some umpires dont seem to get it right. We have seen umpires call the game mid-batter in a friendly with a drop dead time limit. Since friendly results are meaningless, why not just let the kid finish her at-bat, then call the game. Some umps have done this as a courtesy; others just call the game.

On the other hand, in a tournament playing a drop dead time, they have to call ball game the second that time expires. We had an umpire fail to do that this past weekend in a tournament and it made a big difference in the result. Home team was down 8-7, batter comes up with 2 outs and 1 minute to go in the drop dead time limit. Batter gets hit by pitch in the hand, blue says it was a foul ball (bad call, but beside the point). It takes the batter a couple minutes to be able to get back in the box and by then, the game was already 2 minutes over the time limit. Blue knows time has expired, but says this is the last batter and we will finish this batter. Batter makes the 3rd out a couple pitches later, game over, home team loses 8-7. Had the ump called ball game when the drop dead time limit expired, the score would have reverted back to a 2-2 tie.

Sounds as if the Blue stopped the clock to give the player a moment to get her stuff together ...

[Makina]

Gee you're damned if u do and damned if u don't. There r alot of variables assoc. / decisions that an umpire may go thru when deciding when to call a game, especially if the tournament rules are not specific.

In a friendly / showcase - as you said the score does not matter, except to the parents that want to brag at work the next day about how their kids team won. So in this case if the game is running on schedule, then it would make sense to let the batter finish the at bat. If not on schedule the game should be called so they can get the next teams on the field to keep the rest of the games on schedule.

In a tournament during bracket play Drop Dead means Drop Dead. Time expires and game is over. Don't blame the umpire - your coach is at fault as he could have called time out and talked to one of his players in order to get the umpire to call the game or could have gone out to talk to the umpire and ask him why he had not called the game since time had expired.

Or better yet the team could have played better D and then you would not have to rely on the umpire calling the game so you could revert back to a previous innings score.

[jonriv]

I hate drop dead

[coachEd]

Not blaming the umpire, but just stating an example of how not enforcing a drop dead rule in a tournament game can make a difference. The final half inning actually started with 15 minutes left in the drop dead time and the home team then batted for 17 minutes. Obviously, the team wasnt relying on the drop dead time to try to get a revert back score and wasnt trying to stall for time (the coach has more class than that), but when time expired, that should have been the immediate end of the game. The rules did not say 1:20 drop dead, but when time expires, you call "last batter" and let the girl finish her at-bat. There was no question that time had expired, the blue admitted it, but said afterward that he was calling it "last batter".

[MTR]

This is what happens when you add or change rules to the game.

[tcannizzo]

Not blaming the umpire, but just stating an example of how not enforcing a drop dead rule in a tournament game can make a difference.

Actually it sure sounded like you blamed the umpire.
As stated earlier, this is not an arbitrary decision by the umpire, it is the TD who calls those shots.

And I have NEVER seen a tournament that had any meaningful prize - even a trophy - that was governed by a drop dead time limit. Worst case is a tournament where they were out of time on Sunday due to heavy rain on Saturday. What they did was reduce it to no new inning after 45 minutes. Friendlies and showcases are the only time I have ever seen drop dead and the results/standings of those types of events are meaningless.

[Gulf Coast Blue]

This is what happens when you add or change rules to the game.

Amen....you and Tony have it right.

Drop dead time limits can make umpires look like idiots and make coaches do stupid things.

Luckily, in my district......they are almost never used. Fort Bend County (mbcrowder's area) uses them a lot for some reason....

Joel

[AlwaysImprove]

This is what happens when you add or change rules to the game.

In all Junior Olympic Class A 12-Under, 14-Under, 16-Under and 18-Under
pool play; Class B 12-Under, 14-Under, 16-Under and 18-Under pool play;
and Gold pool play; no inning shall start after 1 hour and 40 minutes for fast
pitch and 1 hour and 30 minutes for slow pitch . If the game is still tied
after the time limit has expired, the tiebreaker shall be in effect at the start of
the next inning