Tagged With "protest"

In another thread about a bad umpire call, may posters indicated that the coach should have protested the incorrect call. I have heard people talk about protesting a call before, but I'm not sure I know exactly what happens with a protest. What is the general process and what would the outcome be? In the other thread, the blown call ended the game by forcing in the winning run. What would be the recourse in that situation if the coach had protested and ultimately won the protest?

The process is different in every state, and some states don't allow any protests. But, when it is allowed, and the call is overturned, and the protest "committee" decides the error had a material effect on the game (a blown call that would turn a 12-0 loss into a 12-1 loss doesn't count), the call is reversed to the correct call and the game resumes from that point.

I'm assuming this process would take several days at least. What if a call was protested in the middle of the game and the blown call didn't result in the end of the game. How would a successful protest be handled in that case? Does play resume from the point of the protest and any innings or outs played after the protest was lodged get replayed? I know there probably aren't any firm stats about this, but how often, in your experience, are high school games actually protested and what are...

I didn't know you protested "calls". I thought rules interpretations could be protested in some areas.

Play resumes from the point of the protest. Everything after that from the original game "never happened." Some places convene (even by phone) a protest committee within a day of the protest being filed. I suppose some areas could be longer I've never worked in an area that has had a protest for HS games. I have been through protests in youth ball and college. Never lost one. And, to GO44DAD -- you are correct that it's rule interpretations (not judgment calls) that can be protested. I was...

Go44 is correct, you can't protest a call, or anything regarding judgement, just the application of rules, so video etc. would be moot. Scorekeeper notes the protest at the time it occurs, and umpire writes a report. And yes, if the protest is upheld, everything that occurred from the point protest onward is wiped clean like it never happened. I've only been following HS ball for a few years, and I've yet to see a protest lodged. In Little League we would have one or two filed per year.

I think GO44DAD is on the right track. A "call" cannot be protested, but a rule interpretation can. At least that's what the VHSL handbook seems to indicate. That said, in my son's five years of HS ball (2 JV, 3 V) I can't recall any sort of protest ever being filed. Only time I remember a rule interpretation being "protested" at any level was during a Little League All Star tournament. In that case the game was stopped until someone up the chain was consulted and made a ruling. But again,...

I believe that's the correct procedure during the LL Tournament. During weekend "travel team" tournaments, often the TD is the protest committee and shows up at the field and rules within 15 minutes or so. Just one of many times there are differences between different levels / leagues / situations and too many fans / coaches / umpires don't understand even that there are differences, much less what those differences might be.

Note that in most tournaments, the TD is the sole person to decide any protest. IN addition, most require a "protest fee." You have to put up $100 cash on the spot and then hope the TD agrees with you. If you lose the protest, you lose the fee. I've been in several games where there was a bad interpretation and I knew I was right, but some youth baseball game wasn't worth enough for me to risk $100 on some TD agreeing with me. Plus you have to hope the umpire uses the same interpretation and...

Speaking of confusion. The last tournament my son's travel team participated in the TD actually changed the outcome of a pool game. In the interest of time, pool games could end in a tie and no extra innings were to be played. One of our pool games was tied at the end of 7 innings (17U). Umps indicated to play on. Son's travel team ended up losing. The TD later ruled the game should have ended as a tie and the "8th" inning was disallowed. The umps had misapplied the rule. For this tournament...

Way too often, special tournament rules are not well-crafted and it's hard for the umpire to figure out. I've worked tournaments, for example, where if the 7th inning ended in a tie, but the time limit had not been reached, the extra innings would be played.