I know there’s not a pitch clock, but if a pitcher in baseball just stood there on the mound for an eternity without pitching or even attempting a pick-off throw, is there anything the umpires could do to compel him to throw a pitch?
Rule 8.04 ©: When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to
the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time
the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall
call “Ball.”
The 12-second timing starts when the pitcher is in possession of the
ball and the batter is in the box, alert to the pitcher. The timing
stops when the pitcher releases the ball.
Which, of course is not enforced, but could be.
8.01 © © Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically
covered in these rules.
“When the bases are unoccupied” - but when/what if they are?
He can just keep spinning around to check the base runner(s) over and over if he likes, which I’ve seen happen. This is why baseball is a beer and hotdog game.
I suppose the clock starts over every time the batter leaves the box to adjust his sleeves and knock the dirt off cleats?
Shit or get off the pot.
Pitch or get off the mound.
I don’t know much about baseball but I believe there is a sort of “judgement call” rule that umps have where they can use their discretion to penalize something that is not codified in the rules but in their opinion violates the spirit of the game (or some such). A pitcher refusing to pitch or spinning to check a runner on base a jillion times would be covered by this I think.
If the bases are occupied, and the pitcher isn’t even attempting a pick-off throw, then the runners will steal until the point at which the bases are no longer occupied, and then you start the timer to call balls (plus put the stolen runs on the scoreboard).
Yes I believe I covered this in the first response:
Also, as per Rule 8.04 © mentioned by Old Guy, I guess a pitcher could get away with never throwing a pitch and just keep walking every batter as the runs mount up. I suspect the pitcher would get yanked pretty quickly if he did this but, hey… at least he was never compelled to throw a single pitch! (And if it’s professional baseball, he’ll never need to throw another pitch again since no one will ever put him on a roster.)
ETA: Sorry OldGuy… I didn’t see the last line of your first post.
Baseball transcends mere sport – it is the essence of the universe. The usual rules of sport do not apply.
The above being true until Major League Baseball seized the “game” and converted it into an extravaganza to compete for corporate profits with the “mere sports”. Including the pitch clock in what had otherwise been a clockless game.
Eliminate one 30-second commercial break (used for a network promo) and you will gain back all the time wasted by fidgeting pitchers.
Well, he has to throw a pitch to walk someone; the automatic intentional walk has to be signalled by the manager.
In a scenario where a pitcher refuses to pitch one need not even go to Rule 8.01(c), the “umpires can make decisions if there’s no specific rule” rule - they can refer directly to the rule right after that one, which gives umpires the authority to eject anyone engaging in unsportsmanlike behaviour, which this clearly is.
Okay, what happens in American football if the center never moves the ball?
Delay of game penalty, 5 yards.
The offense has a very short time limit to get the next play off; it is quite common for an offense to have the clock ticking down to just 1-3 seconds before the ball is snapped.
That being said, I believe that, once the offense is backed up to its own 1-yard line, you could delay the game indefinitely since the referee has no more yardage room he can penalize against you (“half the distance to the goal” soon becomes inches, then millimeters, then really no more space to penalize, etc.) You can’t suffer a safety on a delay of game penalty.
Yes, but I’m pretty sure once there is a penalty, the game clock doesn’t start again until the ball is next snapped. So you could continue to get delay of game penalties, but no game time would run off – so what would be he point?
This is correct. About the only reason I could see to do it is if the team that’s on offense is trying to stall for time (for instance, if a key player is being treated for an injury on the sideline, but is expected to return). Even so, I could see the game officials getting tired of the shenanigans quickly, and starting to assess unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, or ejecting the coach from the game if it continued.
True - but the same applies for this thread, which is about a baseball pitcher deliberately not pitching. There is no game clock in baseball, which goes by innings, not time, so there isn’t much reason for the pitcher to stall on the mound and do nothing, unless he wants to be a jerk - which the football offense might be doing, too.
As far as football goes, there’s the palpably unfair act.
If he keeps doing that and never actually pitches, at some point one of the umpires will call a balk, even though no one on either team, in the stands or watching on TV could detect it.
Rain might be coming sometime in the 3rd inning.