I watched my buddy's son pitch last night. Kids good. Sophomore playing Varsity for a really good program. He had been out for a couple weeks so it took a couple innings to settle himself down, but after giving up 2 and 1 runs the first two innings he cruised the rest of the night in a 13-3 complete game win.

 

Now the question, what the hell is a "courtesy runner" for the catcher? Basically whenever the catcher got on base, and he was always on base it seemed, they could bring in a courtesy runner. The reasoning was to speed up the game by having the catcher ready with his gear on. Is this national? When did it start?

 

And, while I really like the DH at the mlb level, I am against it in High School, College, and Minors.

I watched my buddy's son pitch last night. Kids good. Sophomore playing Varsity for a really good program. He had been out for a couple weeks so it took a couple innings to settle himself down, but after giving up 2 and 1 runs the first two innings he cruised the rest of the night in a 13-3 complete game win.

 

Now the question, what the hell is a "courtesy runner" for the catcher? Basically whenever the catcher got on base, and he was always on base it seemed, they could bring in a courtesy runner. The reasoning was to speed up the game by having the catcher ready with his gear on. Is this national? When did it start?

 

And, while I really like the DH at the mlb level, I am against it in High School, College, and Minors.

in my experiences with my dad as a softball coach for my sister and whatnot typically when there are 2 outs then you can substitute the person who made the last out for the catched to allow him/her to put the gear on to make the half inning changes faster; this has happened for at least 5 years I think

in my experiences with my dad as a softball coach for my sister and whatnot typically when there are 2 outs then you can substitute the person who made the last out for the catched to allow him/her to put the gear on to make the half inning changes faster; this has happened for at least 5 years I think

 

They used a kid off the bench and IIRC it was with less than two outs. Seems as if it is anytime. Strange rule to me, but it does have some logic. This seven inning game went 2:45

I watched my buddy's son pitch last night. Kids good. Sophomore playing Varsity for a really good program. He had been out for a couple weeks so it took a couple innings to settle himself down, but after giving up 2 and 1 runs the first two innings he cruised the rest of the night in a 13-3 complete game win.

 

Now the question, what the hell is a "courtesy runner" for the catcher? Basically whenever the catcher got on base, and he was always on base it seemed, they could bring in a courtesy runner. The reasoning was to speed up the game by having the catcher ready with his gear on. Is this national? When did it start?

 

And, while I really like the DH at the mlb level, I am against it in High School, College, and Minors.

It's by state adoption. Illinois uses it here.

 

You can courtesy run for the pitcher and/or the catcher whenever they get on base. It doesn't have to be just with 2 outs, and you don't have to use it at all if you dont' want to. Yes, it is a suggested speed up rule, and many times it's worth it to use it. The person being run for has to be the catcher or pitcher of record, it can't be based on a future substitution - "this kid is catching next inning, i'm going to run for him."

 

The courtesy runner has to be someone from the bench who hasn't been in the game. A player can only be the courtesy runner for the pitcher OR the catcher, but not both. Most times teams use a bench kid that pretty much has no chance of being in the game as a normal substitute, and he'll run for the catcher (or pitcher) every single time, unless that catcher or pitcher has extraordinary speed.

If the kid is the courtesy runner and then enters the game, what are the team's options?

First off, that courtesy runner cannot enter the game during that half inning.

 

If he enters the game later on they can use a different courtesy runner, using the same original rules.

First off, that courtesy runner cannot enter the game during that half inning.

 

If he enters the game later on they can use a different courtesy runner, using the same original rules.

 

By half inning I assume that means he can not be used as a pitch batter.

Yes, or as an official pinch runner for someone.

Thank You,

Tex