Just a Pinch

As of this writing, there are no Kardball rules that control pinch batting; we leave it to each venue to manage this as a house rule.

An appropriate use of pinch batting is when the next player in the batting order cannot come up to bat because he or she is making microwave popcorn, or letting the dog out, or is simply "indisposed."  A teammate bats as a substitute.  But just this once.

Stop Pinch Abuse

Here at Kardball.com we embrace traditional baseball elements, and we want to help you keep the game moving.

Once long ago, your cousin Brian pinch batted for you after you got hit in the "groin" with a line drive and had to "rest" for an inning. Lo these many years later, you can now pinch bat for your buddy Paul who has stayed in the rest room for a long, long time after he chopped raw jalapeno peppers and didn't wash his hands BEFORE answering nature's call. It's like the Circle of Life.

But we do not condone full time pinch batters, or unnecessary pinch batting, or pinch batting out of order, or batters swapping cards, or anything else like that. These are abuses. Any game in the kind of state that would require something crazy like that is a game that should be ended prematurely: for example, the abusive pinch batter's team should forfeit the game.  That's right, I said "forfeit." I know it hurts.

Legal Basis for Enforcement

In a previous expository post on batting, we stipulated that only cards which are (or will be) in play should ever be drawn. The official rules expressly prohibit card swapping. These two conditions will limit most pinch abuse. To our understanding, the only loophole would be when, with one out remaining, the same veteran Kardball player draws cards and bats repeatedly in succession as a pinch batter.

But really, is individual player skill that important?