View Message Board Guidelines
 |
Author |
TOPIC: Unannounced Substitutes |
| D5 UIC
May 27, 2008
10:56:39 AM
Entry #: 2766399
| Rule 3.08 states as follows:
(a) If no announcement of a substitution is made, the substitute shall be considered to have entered the game when –
(1) if a pitcher, the substitute takes position on the pitcher’s plate and throws one warm-up pitch to the catcher;
(2) if a batter, the substitute takes position in the batter’s box;
(3) if a fielder, the substitute reaches the position usually occupied by the fielder being replaced and play commences;
(4) if a runner, the substitute takes the place of the runner being replaced.
(b) Any play made by, or on, any of the above mentioned unannounced substitutes shall be legal.
While Rule 3.06 requires a manager to notify the umpire-in-chief of any substitution, subsection (b) of Rule 3.08 makes it clear that failure to do so does not lead to any penalty. This, however, should not lead a manager to believe that he has a free license to substitute without ever notifying the umpire. A manager who openly defies Rule 3.06 could receive sanctions in the form of a disciplinary action by the Board of Directors or ejection by the umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Further, because of the mandatory play rules, a manager would be unwise to intentionally resist informing the umpire-in-chief of a substitution. The burden is on the manager of a team to prove all of his players met their mandatory play requirements. This is made more difficult if he has failed to report a substitute.
Under Rule 3.08 (a) (3), it should be notes that a fielder is not considered in the game until he takes his position AND play commences. This allows players not currently in the line-up to take a position on the field to warm-up players in the game without fear of being considered an unannounced substitute. This, of course, does not apply to pitchers as they only require that the player take the pitcher’s plate and throw a warm-up pitch under subsection (a) (1).
A player who is not eligible to pitch, but who takes the position on the pitcher’s plate and delivers a warm-up pitch before being discovered, shall not be allowed to pitch to a batter. A different pitcher must take his place. This cannot be the original pitcher. In Little League Baseball, majors and below, a pitcher once removed from the mound may not return as a pitcher (Rule 3.03 (3)). In baseball, juniors and above, and in all levels of softball, while a pitcher may return to the mound as a pitcher, he/she may not do so in this situation. A different eligible pitcher must pitch to the next batter, or retire the side, before the original pitcher can return.
|
|
| D5 UIC
May 27, 2008
12:01:20 PM
Entry #: 2766543
| It should also be noted that, under Rule 3.08 (a) (1), a fielder who does not intend himself to be a substitute, who is merely goofing around and picks up the ball and delivers a warm-up pitch from the pitcher’s plate, makes himself the new pitcher of record and must pitch, at the very least, to the next batter.
|
|
