Toronto Playgrounds House League Baseball Philosophy and Rules


 

July 31, 2014 Tee Ball Falcons & Loons5“Philosophy”/Approach: 

Our TP House League Baseball Program has three main objectives for our players, coaches, and umpires:

  • Fun and enjoyment for all participants;
  • Skill development and enhancement on the part of all participants; and
  • As a result of the first two, an increased sense of self-confidence and self-esteem on the part of participants.

We want our house league to offer the opportunity for players of all ability levels to enjoy being part of a team in a supportive environment.

We also want to encourage our players to be good sports win, lose, or tie. After every game the teams will line up and shake hands with the other team.

Rules/Guidelines:

General:

Equal playing time is one of the underlying principles of our TP House League Baseball Program. As much as possible, all players at a game should play an equal number of times in the field and have the same number of at-bats.

As well, all players should play both infield and outfield positions each game. In our house league, players do not play only one position but rather try out any and all positions that they are interested in attempting.  Players should not play only in the infield or the outfield. However, obviously for safety reasons, we don’t expect players who are not confident in their catching abilities to play first base or back-catcher until they are ready.

The batting order should be changed from inning to inning (in tee ball and rookie ball) or from game to game (in mosquito, peewee, bantam, and midget) as much as possible, so that players aren’t always batting in the same position and all players are getting the chance to bat near the top of the batting order.

The time that is listed for the games and practices on the schedule is the intended start time for the game or practice. In the case of games that is not the time that players are expected to arrive. Players should arrive as close to half an hour before game time as possible to allow for a warm up and to allow for the coaches to prepare a line up for the game.

Some rules and guidelines apply only to certain divisions.

Tee Ball:

Tee Ball games will be two innings in length. We do not keep score in Tee  Ball. Coaches will receive a game sheet on which they can write the names of all the players present in order to keep track of fielding and at-bats.

All players should bat in both innings. Players should not swing the bat until the umpire calls “Play Ball”. The batting order should be reversed from one inning to the next. During the inning, runners can advance until a play has been attempted at a base. Once a throw has been made to a base, even if it is overthrown the runners should stop at the base they have reached.

When the last batter of the half-inning is up, the play must be made to home plate. In other words, once the ball is hit, it must be fielded and thrown to the catcher who must end the play by stepping on home plate with the ball in their possession. The runners on base and the batter should run all the way around the bases until the catcher steps on home plate with the ball.

Half of the players present should field each inning (unless there are fewer than 10 players present in which case they should all field), so that if there are 10 or more players each player will play in the field once. During the inning the defensive players should be moved around after every few batters in order to give each player a chance to catch and throw, as most of the balls get hit to the pitcher or first base player.

Rookie Ball:

Rookie Ball games will be three innings in length. We do not keep score in Rookie Ball (although some players and parents might!). Coaches will receive a game sheet on which they can write the names of all the players present in order to keep track of fielding and at-bats. Since there are not the same numbers of batters or outs for the two teams it doesn’t make sense to keep score.

Players in Rookie Ball will bat against the pitching machine. All players should bat twice during the game. What this means is that coaches should count their batters, multiply by 2 and divide by 3 to determine how many batters they will have each inning. In the early weeks of the season we will take the same approach as tee ball in that runners can advance until a play has been attempted at a base. Once a throw has been made to a base, even if it is overthrown the runners should stop at the base they have reached. This will be “tweaked” as we get further into the season and players become more able to make the throws.

When the last batter of the half-inning is up, the play must be made to home plate. In other words, once the ball is hit, it must be fielded and thrown to the catcher who must end the play by stepping on home plate with the ball in their possession. The runners on base and the batter should run all the way around the bases until the catcher steps on home plate with the ball.

10 players should field each inning (unless there are fewer than 10 players present in which case they should all field). One player should be placed beside the pitching machine, four players should play in the outfield, and the regular infield positions should be covered.

Mosquito, Peewee, Bantam, Midget:

Once the players reach the mosquito division they begin to play “regular” baseball. Players are doing the pitching, we play three out half-innings, and we keep score.

Pitchers can only pitch two innings, and catchers can only catch three innings. If you have a lot of players willing to do both, it’s even better to spread it out and have players pitch or catch once and get experience at other positions. There will probably be a pitch count in effect all season, so that there will be a maximum numbers of pitches a player can throw in an inning and a game. We have this to protect the arms of our players. More details will be sent soon to those people coaching these divisions.

We don’t play a fixed number of innings, and the maximum for a regular season game would be five. Due to the age of the players and the need to have a second game or practice take place on the same diamond, there will be no new inning started after one and a half hours of play. In other words, with a 5:45 start time, no new inning will be started after 7:15. With a 7:45 start time, no new inning will be started after 9:15. However, any inning started must be completed.

Another distinct feature of our house league is that we have a four run mercy rule. In all innings except the last inning, the most runs that can be scored by either team is four. Once four runs are scored the teams switch, just as they would do after three outs. The mercy rule is a little more involved regarding the last inning. If the visitors (who bat in the top of the inning) are ahead in the game or tied, they can only score four runs (a regular mercy). If the visitors are behind they can score enough runs to go ahead by four. In other words, if they are losing by two, they can score six…if they’re losing by four they can score eight, etc. In the bottom of the last inning the home team can score as many runs as they need to win the game. Throughout all innings, however, the three out rule is also in effect.

In the mosquito division there are no lead-offs….runners can’t leave the base until the ball has crossed home plate or been hit. In peewee, bantam, and midget lead offs are allowed.

The final distinct TP House League rule that is important to emphasize is our sliding rule. In tee ball and rookie ball we don’t really want the players sliding…they haven’t been taught how to and the fielding players haven’t been shown how to react safely. In mosquito and older divisions, we have a rule that says that players must slide at home if there is a “play at the plate”. What this means is that if the ball has entered the infield (either in the air or on a bounce) and is heading towards home plate, any runners approaching home must slide in order to avoid having a collision between the runner and the catcher. It is strictly a safety measure. Runners who do not slide at home in those circumstances will be called out by the home plate umpire. We will be providing sliding instruction in the early practices to all the players. What this rule also points out, though, is that as coaches we need to tell our catchers to step out in front of the plate is the ball is nowhere near home plate, so the runner knows there won’t be a play at the plate and they don’t have to slide.