Sitting in the parking lot, there were 4 of us and a discussion came up about the conference rule. Well, there were some differeing opinions. As I understand it... the Defensive team is allowed 3 charged conferences and on the 4th visit and subsequent visits, the pitcher must be removed. That if on any visit, a pitcher is removed, then that is not a charged conference. example. Inning 1 Coach can visit pitcher 3 times, never removing him. Inning 2 he visits and the pitcher must be removed. Another example ... inning 1 coach visits pitcher 3 times, removes him on 3rd visit. Inning 2 coach visits pitcher - he is not removed. Inning 3 coach visits pitcher - now he must be removed. Inning 5 coach visits reliever - he must be removed.
Also if the offensive team calls time to have a conference, the defensive team can visit the mound and it would not count as a visit so long as the visit is not longer than the offensive conference. Is this intrepretation correct? I was doubting myself since the others have many more years of experience than I do.