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Application Of The Look Back Rule After A Walk
by Dave
Thursday, August 24, 2006
A visitor named Tony has a question about the "look back" rule as it pertains to a situation his daughter has experienced in high school. I don't have a high school rulebook and cannot figure out where I packed away my ASA and NCAA rulebooks. The best I can do is use the PONY rulebook as a surrogate. PONY fundamental rules generally conform to ASA rules and many basic high school rules conform to ASA, so it is at least a reasonable place to start. Here's Tony's question:
"There's a runner on third base, the pitcher walks the batter and as the girl is jogging down to first base the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher right away, well before the runner reaches first base. Meanwhile the pitcher has the ball in the circle and looks back the runner on third base. Does this runner need to make a decision right away or can she wait until the runner reaches first base before she makes a decision?
A lot of times the batter who just drew a walk will tag first and continue on to second base with out stopping. If this happens and you look back the runner at third base before the batter reaches first, does she need to go back to third? My daughter's team had a pick off play trying to trap the runner who just walked between first and second after she rounded first base, then hoping to get the runner from third who was trying to score. BUT THE QUESTION IS HOW THE "LOOK-BACK " RULE WORKS IN THIS SITUATION. I was told by one coach that the runner on third could dance all she wants until the batter reaches first base or second base?"
Here's my reply:
The "Look Back" rule anticipates the play you are questioning. The PONY version of the rule states:
"The "Look Back" rule will be in effect when the ball is live, the batter-runner has touched first base or has been declared out, and the pitcher has possession and control of the ball in the eight foot radius of the pitcher's plate ... When the baserunner fails to keep contact with the base she is entitled until the ball leaves the pitcher's hand, the baserunner will be declared out ...
Note: A base on balls or dropped third strike, on which the runner is entitled to run, is treated the same as a batted ball. The batter-baserunner may continue past first base and is entitled to run towards second base as long as she does not stop at first base ...
Play - With R1 on third, B2 receives ball four and moves towards first base with a walk; meanwhile, R1 leads off third base after delivery to the plate, Catcher returns ball to the pitcher, who has the ball in the eight foot radius of the pitcher's plate. The runner at this moment makes no attempt to move either way.
Ruling - The runner does not have to return to third or immediately advance to the next base until the batter-runner reaches first base. Failure to proceed to the next base or return to her base once the pitcher has the ball in the eight foot radius of the pitcher's plate and the batter-runner reaches first base will result in the base-runner being declared out."
It is clear to me at least from the Pony rules that the runner cannot be "looked back" until the walked batter reaches first. As an aside, there is no reason for a pitcher to physically "look back" the runner. The pitcher's possession of the ball within the circle obligates the runner to return to her base or advance immediately whether the pitcher looks at her or not.
Additionally, please note that any act taken by the pitcher which an umpire judges to be a "play" removes the obligation to return to base or advance immediately. If a pitcher makes a fake throw or any other act which the umpire believes is a "play," he does not have to call the runner out for failing to return or advance.
Now your question moves on to a slightly different scenario which is usually referred to as the "continuation play" where the walked batter never stops at first but rather proceeds to second. I think the runner from third must return to third as soon as the batter reaches first if the pitcher has the ball in the circle and isn't making a play. This would be true regardless of whether the batter-runner advances to second unless in the umpire's judgment the pitcher is making a play including a fake throw.
In your scenario, the pitcher gets the ball back from the catcher, looks back the runner to third, then goes into the "pick off play" as the batter-runner slowly proceeds to second. Any throw of the ball out of the pitcher's circle or fake throw makes the ball live again and the runner from third can most certainly advance even if she returned to base once the pitcher had the ball and the batter-runner reached first.
So, let's try to draw a picture.
- Runner leads off third and dances.
- Ball four is called and batter proceeds to first.
- Batter reaches first.
- Runner at third must commit one way or the other but should keep her eyes on the pitcher.
- If the pitcher faces first base and lifts her hands to throw for the pickoff play, the runner at third who was returning to her base can now change course and run for home or dance. Obviously if the pitcher doesn't throw, she wouldn't want to break for home but the point is, now we have a live ball and there is no obligation to return to base (assuming the umps understand the rule - not always a safe assumption).
What I'm trying to emphasize here is that if the pitcher begins to make a play or seems to be making a play, the rules tell us that look back doesn't apply. So if the batter-runner can induce the pitcher to make a play, the runner on third can continue to "dance." I hope that answers your question.
Permanent Link: Application Of The Look Back Rule After A Walk
 
Tryouts!
by Dave
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
August can be a difficult month for softball families. I know we got back from our final summer competitions a few weeks ago and everyone in my family seems lost without some sort of softball event to go to. School doesn't start here until after Labor Day. Fall ball doesn't start until after that. There is nothing to do in my town with its 20 or so parks, located 10 miles from the beach!
My kids are fighting over some of the most ridiculous stuff you've ever heard. "She hit me." "Why?" "Because she hit me in the face with a dirty sock." "Why did you throw a dirty sock at her?" "Because she was making funny noises trying to disturb me." "I wasn't making funny noises. I was just breathing." "No you weren't you were making fun of me." "Well, you were making strange noises while you were chewing gum."
We just have to do something to break things up before we break each other up into little pieces. "OK kids, get in the car. We're going to tryouts!" "Tryouts? What tryouts?" "It doesn't matter what tryouts. We're going to any tryouts we can find!"
August is the time set aside each June / July to "take a break from softball" right after the national tournaments are completed, before fall ball and winter workouts. This year I kept busy organizing my fall team and planning for my spring / summer team's tryouts. But the kids didn't have anything to do. Their teams had no practices. There's one last tournament for the spring / summer team but we weren't yet practicing because everybody figured everybody else needed a break.
Finally we had three practices in 3 days and everybody is feeling so much better. I know of one kid at the practice whose mother told me the kid had laid out her clothes for our 6:00 pm practice by noon and then sat around asking her mother if it was time to go yet!
I tried to schedule a practice for a very relaxed (almost rec) fall ball team playing up an age group to get girls ready for spring. I wrote everyone an e-mail suggesting three possible days next week for practice. Unfortunately I made a mistake and sent it to a number of kids trying out for spring ball for whom I had no room on my fall ball team. Every parent with a kid on the fall ball team and who received my message by my mistake wrote back and said, "she'll be at all three practices!" So much for arranging a single, solitary practice for a basically recreational team!
But where I'm going with this is, August with its dearth of tournaments and practices is very much a time for spring / summer team tryouts. That is true whether you already have a team for next year or not. I don't know what your area looks like but there are at least 6 club teams in my area conducting tryouts over the next couple of weeks. We created a list and are going to as many as we can fit in! We're not looking to join a new club but so what?! We just need something to do.
The way I look at tryouts is they are like practices where you don't know anybody, or at least not very many other people. And if you find good tryouts, they can be similar to the very best clinics. I even found one very good organization which was charging kids to attend their tryouts. They promised and delivered on a Div I college coach who would run things and not just test skills, but also teach some. Lots of people complained about this cost to tryout but when I thought about it, I realized if I can't afford a few bucks to keep my kids busy this time of year, I had better start looking for some part-time employment so I can next year.
I suspect a lot of people stay away from tryouts because they don't know what to expect or because they think they cannot make certain teams. They hear the word "tryout" and wonder what's involved with that. They hear about specific tryouts but reason, Sally can't possibly make that team. What's the use of putting her through that? Well, I can tell you a little about tryouts to make it a little less of an unknown. Each one is a little different but most are similar. I can also tell you that avoiding a tryout because your kid cannot possibly make the team is a little too defeatist and probably is an attitude to be avoided.
If you think about the best softball practices your kid has ever been involved with, that's pretty much what a tryout looks like. There is usually some stretching followed by difficult agility drills. Next, baserunning drills might be run. Then the girls will loosen up with a bit of throwing and progress into fielding drills, infield first and then outfield. After that, there might be some hitting with machine thrown balls. After all that is done, the pitchers and catchers will probably stay and do their thing. The order doesn't much matter. Different teams will use different orders or do everything at once via a bunch of stations, especially if there is a large number of kids involved. But the important thing is a "tryout" is nothing more than a practice with all the usual skills involved.
That sounds overly simplistic and maybe it is. When your kid is running base running drills, there will probably be a coach standing there timing her with a stop watch. But that shouldn't cause you or your daughter any more stress than running the bases in a game. When she boots a ball in the infield, sure there is some coach writing down the fact that your kid isn't good enough to make his team, but is it any less stressful when she makes an error in the last inning of a 0-0 game? Maybe you wish the coach running the pitching machine would turn the speed down or up a notch or put the ball a little lower since she struggles with high pitches. Relax, we're here to get out of the house, play some ball, maybe learn about what needs work, and to have a good experience.
In my real-world life, I used to go on job interviews even when I wasn't looking for a job. One year, when I wasn't looking, I went on 8 sets of interviews. By the end of that process, I imagine I was a pretty good interviewee. I learned to avoid rambling on about unrelated stuff. I learned to be interesting without changing the subject started by the interviewer. I learned to ask highly relevant questions. I learned to read interviewers better than they read me. I learned all sorts of skills which made me a better applicant than I would otherwise have been.
Softball tryouts are sort of like my job interview example. Maybe you've never been to one, maybe you haven't been to one in a long time, or maybe you are expecting to tryout for a school team in the near-term future. All of these circumstances cry out as a reason to go to one now.
I imagine a young rec player who has just learned there is this whole other universe of softball. There are club teams all over the place and maybe, just maybe, one of these years, she is going to try out for one of them, just not this year. Well, that's all well and good. Perhaps mom and dad are not ready for the time or financial commitment of a travel club. That shouldn't prevent her from going to a tryout to explore the possibility. Maybe what mom and dad will find at a tryout is a team which doesn't travel far or doesn't otherwise create an unbearable burden. Maybe they'll find a coach they really like who will make bearing a burden something they are willing to do. You don't know how cold the water is until you go in up to your knees. Besides, if next year this girl and her parents are going to take the plunge, what is the harm in learning a little about what it entails this year? Going to a tryout when you have no expectation of playing for that team is a lot less stressful than the tryout where you hold your breath hoping against hope that she'll make this or that team. Doing it now, when you don't want to make the team, will make the process so much more familiar when you are actually trying out.
Let's say you've got a kid who plays rec ball for a couple years. At some point, maybe she got herself onto a club team. Maybe she even tried out for it. She found a home with a particular team, has played a couple years for them, and she'll stay there until she hangs up her spikes. Well, sometimes things outside our control happen and change the best laid plans. If it has been a couple years since your daughter tried out for a team, attending some other team's tryouts can't actually hurt her. Rather, it will renew the skills of attending a tryout and performing softball skills where maybe she doesn't know any of the other girls. Even if you have attended many tryouts, going to one after several years of being on one team can be very stressful. Again, going to one now takes the edge off that next year when her club disbands or the coaches all quit and kids go their separate ways.
I can picture a girl who plays "B" ball and looks out at the "A" teams in her area longingly. She wouldn't mind being on one of those extremely good teams one day. So, how do you know if you're good enough to play "A" ball? The only way you'll ever really know is to tryout and get asked to join one. And there is no rule which requires anyone who tries out to accept an offer from a team. If you don't feel you are ready, just tell them that after some careful thought, you are not interested. But if you don't at least tryout for an "A" team, you really won't know if you can make one. In the process of trying out, you may also learn some deficiencies you have in your game which, when addressed, will make you a better player on your "B" team. Maybe you have pause points in your infield play. Maybe the guy watching you hit will tell you one thing that will turn you around and make you a much better hitter. Maybe the coach will let you know that you throw like an outfielder not an infielder. Who knows what might be communicated to you in the course of a tryout for a better team than you currently play with.
Another scenario might be the girl who plays high level travel and plans to tryout for the high school team next year. Of course she'll make it. But she's been with the same club organization for four years. They have tryouts every year so that's not a problem for her, is it? Well, every one of her "tryouts" has been with the same group of coaches she sees every week at her team's practices. The drills probably don't vary much from year to year. The tryout process may have become too much of a known thing. Maybe she's even there more as an aid to the coaches than she is actually "trying out" for the team. Going to some other organization's tryouts might better prepare her for that high school tryout with a coaching staff she's never met, some girls she doesn't know, and possibly some different drills. The slightest advantage come HS tryouts can make the difference between starting the first game on varsity as a freshman and playing with the freshman team for 5 or 6 games, then JV for a couple more before your talent shows through.
Well, that's my opinion on attending tryouts. I strongly suggest you form your own opinion on the subject. The best way to do that is to go and tryout someplace! What else do you have to do besides being a boxing referee for your children?
Permanent Link: Tryouts!
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