Mudisfun

I took the opportunity to teach the freshmen players that they could be ejected for exiting the dugout as none of them had moved past a step or two. If they had not immediately complied, then yes, I would have dumped them all. The only coach was in the coaches box at 3rd, so there was no adult presence there to keep them wrangled either. Since none of them did anything further, I decided not to eject them.

Freshman level game. R1/R2 and I am working solo. As I turned towards the plate to sweep it, I hear a commotion coming from the 2nd base area, turn around and see R2 and the SS finishing a shove and squaring up. Immediately I'm running towards the scuffle, shouting to knock it off, break it up, etc. Both HC's (3rd base coach) and HTHC (on the 3rd base side) come running out on to the field as well to break it up. Eject both players for engaging in a fight 3-3-1 p&q. Turning towards the plate, I see players from the VT out of the dugout, which a loud get back in there or you are all ejected culls the sheep and they all immediately get back inside (no one was running out on to the field, they had just exited the dugout). I get the replacement player info from the VT (R2) and then head over to the HTHC to get the replacement for his SS when I then observe several adult males outside the fence on the home team side yelling at and attempting to engage/instigate with the VT side of the fence. Tell the HTHC to call an admin now, which he does. Spoke to the AD via phone who was off site, explained the situation and he quickly got someone from admin out to the field to quell the crowds. I may have also told them all that if they did not immediately stop the behavior that I would clear the stands and they would all be going to the parking lot. By the time the EJ paperwork was done, there was an admin on site and we resumed the game with no further issues. Did I mention freshman level? Ugg.

In my neck O the woods, JV ball is typically solo, unless it is one of the Trinity (private) schools who run 2 man for JV. In the event I were to have a partner on what would typically be a solo game, I would include the verbiage since I know for a fact that the coaches are not going to have a clue on who to approach. Just from muscle memory, they would go to the plate guy or gal since that is typically all they have. Also do it for youth ball where the coaches are typically volunteers and may not really understand. Varsity or other levels where they use to 2 or more? No, not getting into that speech.

This made me chuckle. First time working a game at Anaheim Stadium. It is a HS game after all, so there are 200-300 people there, max. I keep hearing this LOUD ringing and cannot for the life of me figure out what it was until I noticed a blinking light in the pen matched to the ringing. Realized real quick that when you thrown 20k-35k people in a building it gets REALLY loud but with only a couple hundred people, that stadium is really empty. Fun times.

F2 jumps in my field of view last second and completely blocks me out? Unless I 100% have a swing by the batter, "ball!, no he didn't go." However, as described, F2 stood up while F1 was in the process of delivering the ball. It doesn't happen often, but you should have had a little time to adjust. Stand up, duck deep into the slot, something to see the pitch, or at a minimum, see the glove and call the glove. That being said... Now you have a play happening... which may be ball 4 and bases loaded, or on the off chance R2 over slid can came off the bag and was tagged, you have the end of the inning. Your partner made an out call. You asked him if he saw a tag and he said no... did he change his call? If not, you have the 3rd out. If he did and is about to reverse himself, you then asked if he had a check swing. He says yes, you get strike 3 and the 3rd out. He says no, or I didn't see it, then you have bases loaded, 2 outs, a pissed off defensive team and something to post game in the parking lot.

This would be the one time that old, well over used old wives tail about the umpire who sits in the stands to call balls and strikes because the fans think they have a better view would actually come into use! I would 100% be behind that fence... let you and the players be the bait!

As @Velho posted from the RIM, yes, in LL a pitcher may faint to 3rd and not throw. They can also perform the 3/1 move (like NFHS) which is not allowed in other programs which follow MLB rules.

The umpire needs to decide quickly how he wants the game to proceed during a dead ball situation. Allow the players to come outside the dugout, staying away from home plate and let them cheer and high five as the batter scores and heads to the dugout, you know, like players who are celebrating a HR, or... Be an over officious umpire who is going to introduce friction where it did not need to be introduced, thus making the crews task of game management that much more difficult. Provided that the offensive players were not gathering around the home plate area, are being respectful of the other team (no taunting or other action), are not bringing props out and immediately go back into the dugout area with the batter, there should not be anything for the umpire to address. If he thinks it getting close to or on the line, a quick word with the HC should suffice. If after that the celebrations continue to be over the top, then that opens the door to addressing the matter more 'officially'. My preference is to address what needs to be addressed and not escalate situations when there is nothing to actually address.

Coach, this is your team warning for unsportsmanlike comments. If it continues, you will be restricted to the dugout for the remainder of the game and the player(s) engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct will be ejected. Further instances, you will be ejected. Dump the next smartass who makes a comment or directs a rude gesture towards you. You are solo and have absolutely no reason to take any crap from the bench monkeys.

Do your search for the 40 myths... that seems to be the sweet spot for this type of document.

In addition to baseball, I also work Water Polo, mainly HS, but some club as well. Of the 300 or games I have worked in the past 2 years, only 1 was solo, and that is because the assignor forgot to pull the other assigned referee who told him he needed to turn back the game which meant the slot never was backfilled. Basically a complete one off event. We always have 2 officials assigned, unless the game is 10u which is played in a really small pool. Anything higher receives 2 referees, period. So for HS, 2 referees, 70 a game for varsity ($50/game for tournaments, but you get 3-5 games), which lasts 45-60 minutes, requires almost no equipment (white shoes/pants/shirt) other than white clothing, a whistle and a yellow/red card. Club pays anywhere from $35-$45 a game, less time typically per game (35-45 minutes) and always 2 people. Why can water polo always have 2 but baseball thinks it is too much to pay for 2 people for what is typically a 2-2.5 hour commitment?

Well, the opening day schedule for HS baseball here in Orange County is already off to a rocky start! With all the rain we had over the past week, almost all of the games scheduled for this Saturday have been cancelled or postponed. I had 3 varsity games scheduled: 10am and then a 3pm/6pm double header. Going to be an interesting February. Be safe out there.

Had a game a few years back where the coach told the batter to take the pitch... batter failed to listen. He swung and got thrown out at 1st, but R2 did more to 3rd... coach kept the result of the play since he was ticked his batter didn't listed to him. Point is... just enforce and let the coaches tell you what they want. If I pull a run off the board to put the B/R back on, I'll know rather quickly what option the coach wants when he starts sputtering about that run going away. Then I have the conversation and determine what exactly they want.

Plate meeting is where all of this should have been handled... Coaches, are there any local rules for this division of play that I need to be aware of? 5 run rule, ball hits the machine it is dead and BR is awarded 1st? Outfielders cannot make plays, etc... If not disclosed at the meeting, then today we are playing book rules. And really, they should have 1 adult from the HT and 1 from the VT to be the plate/base umpires. No need for an actual 'official' umpire... It's 8U...