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Balk three times ... and bye bye

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by HanSenSE, Jul 4, 2012.

  1. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Minor league coach, forced to use position players as pitcher as a game goes into extended extra innings, is suspended for year after asking pitchers to balk on purpose to speed up the game.

    http://blog.sfgate.com/athletics/2012/07/03/as-minor-league-coach-banned-for-throwing-game/
     
  2. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    I thought the lyric was "balk three times on the ceiling if you want me."

    [​IMG]
     
  3. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    So, if minor-league baseball uses seven-inning doubleheaders, why doesn't it have an extra-innings limit? The guy's right: There is no developmental benefit to having some hotshot shortstop blow his arm out pitching in the 19th inning of a meaningless California League game.
     
  4. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    I'm with the manager on this, as long as the parent club is putting their pitchers on strict pitch counts in the minors. There should be some kind of gentleman's agreement that if a guy runs out of arms one night, he simply concedes the game. All the minors are for is to develop these kids. It hasn't been about winning or losing for a very long time, at least since Joe DiMaggio played in the Pacific Coast League.
     
  5. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    You never know when fans will boo at you for stopping the game.

    (Seriously... I TOTALLY see your point. There are just some nuts out there that would complain because the game ended in a tie.)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  6. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    Reminds me of a high school softball game that happened my first week as a reporter. 90-something degree, really hot day (myself and virtually everyone else looks like a lobster at this point), second game of the day for both teams, and one team is ahead 8-0, needs 2 runs to trigger the mercy rule. The losing team has no chance of coming back.

    First two batters in the inning get on base. Coach walks out to the circle. Next pitch goes 3 feet wide of the plate to the backstop to advance them into scoring position. Next pitch goes exactly the same place, and the catcher just stands and watches the two final runs score.

    Winning coach was a bit upset, but the losing coach's attitude was "look, it's a hot day, we're not going to win, why should we continue this charade of being out here for another hour playing two more innings?"
     
  7. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    Good point, but this rarely happens as most minor-league teams have at least one or two really crappy arms in the pen that can't get through an inning without giving up a run. What would the inning limit be? 12? 14?
     
  8. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Suspend the game until another date and offer all fans who are remaining a free ticket and a beverage to another game.

    Problem solved.
     
  9. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    At least for night games, it's easy to institute a time curfew, such as no inning shall begin after 11:59 p.m.

    But, of course, that doesn't address the problem for day games.
     
  10. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    Not unless you're allowed to reinsert pitchers or call up an entire new bullpen.

    There was a minor-league game a few years ago that went 26 innings. Ended up 6-1 when one of the teams had to put an infielder on the mound. That's crazy.

    I would think 16 or 18 would be fine. Makes it so that it would very rarely be an issue.
     
  11. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    That would never happen to me in a million years.

    The times I've been on the verge of the mercy rule only to have some horseshit team score a run or two in the fifth and hold serve have taken years off my life.

    Oh ... and Indiana needs the running clock mercy rule for football. It's about 20 years overdue.
     
  12. turski7

    turski7 Member

    The baseball overlords said it violated the integrity of the game. B.S. Minor league fans go to the games to see stars of tomorrow today. I've yet to meet someone who said my minor club team won the championship. Get over yourself baseball. This manager did the right thing and protected his players.
     
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