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In honor of Easter...

Don't hate him because he's beautiful.

Dear Penthouse Forum, there I was, getting ready for my game.....

I only shake hands if I happen to cross paths with a coach or player who reaches out and tells me and my partner "good game", etc. on the way to the parking lot. Other than that, I'm gone.

Interested if they'll include interference/obstruction explanations...the ones that make spectators and announcers scratch their heads. Maybe they'll will learn something. How this will the trickle down to lower levels will be interesting to see hear.

you should get into a really great habit of calling ball 4 every time..

Imagine the surprise when you find out it was your assigner's daughter... It was a short, but sweet career.

oh, you poor bastid... ... and its groupies...plural. Go get yourself some.

We have a hard enough time recruiting young officials. Rumor of a rule prohibiting being picked up by female spectators would be devastating. The survival of the umpiring profession may depend on you showing this young lady a good time. Do it for the sake of humanity.

How about this? Let Facebook be Facebook? This situation is silly and doesn't belong here.

@JSam21, I'm still waiting for two pieces of information... 1. Where / who are you in this? (BU? Participant (coach? Scorekeeper? etc.)? Parent?) 2. I'm reading that F3 never made a throw (likely stunned by what he saw happen 70+ feet away). Did R2 ever crawl over and touch home plate? Oh, and you can forget the later altercation bit, @ALStripes17 – these are 12U's. These kids scream and hash it out right there on the field, in real time. If you were to ask the ODB what had happened just 30 seconds prior, he wouldn't have been able to tell you the situation. All he knows is that little Danny / Billy / Austin / Johnny got a hit, and now it's HIS TURN TO HIT!!! IntoTheBoxIGoRightNow!! I'm surprised he didn't clock his R2 teammate with an air-swing as he got up to the plate. The way these kids swing the bat and pound the plate, I'd think they were aspiring lumberjacks. But yeah, I too have "nada". The guys on FB are idiots.

In what alternate reality do things like this happen? And how do these jack wagons have the stones to think that they are even close to being accurate in their - ahem - rules interpretations?

Also consider this; OBR vs FED base runner designations are reversed. The only one that is the same is the Batter/Runner and possibly R2. This is another example of why it would be a good thing to make these rule book designations consistent. AINT THAT RIGHT VOLUMP !!!

A stop is not required before stepping and throwing to a base. You can stretch and come set fast or slow, mix it up all you want. As long as there's a discernible stop before the delivery of a pitch to the batter. funny does not = illegal.

1 out, Runner on 2nd, this is Pony Baseball, Bronco Division (10-12yo). Ground ball to the SS, who makes a bad throw picked by the 1st baseman, out on the play. Meanwhile, the runner from second comes in to score, 1st baseman does NOT make an attempt at throw. The runner attempting to score runs into contact with the on deck batter, who made his way into the batters box. Whatcha got?

http://m.mlb.com/video/v1293296683/texsea-scott-servais-ejected-arguing-a-fair-ball/?query=servais This is one of the games I watched this weekend. As an umpire, I knew what was happening. Bucknor properly waited for the play to play itself out, then signaled time as there was some question whether it hit the batter in the box. So, overall Bucknor did the right things here and the ejection was deserved. Now I did not see or notice any communication between Bucknor & Carlson about potentially being hit in the box, but lack of any communication is essentially the same as saying he was not hit. However, I was with my father in law who gets easily fired up about sports and reviles all officials in all sports. He had a minor conniption about this which was fueled on by the announcers (we had a different feed than these announcers). Now in my amateur, Monday morning quarterback view here's what he could have possibly have done better (for educational purposes only not to criticize, condemn or otherwise put down any umpire). Point the ball fair. -- IMO this simple act could have quite possibly prevented everything. And it wouldn't have made any difference in terms of a potential batter hit in the box situation. Additionally, because it it was so close, emphatically point it fair. Verbalize calling time -- That seemed to be Servais's argument, 'You called foul' and you can read Bucknors lips, 'No, I called time' The other thing that did not go well for Bucknor were the optics of the situation. The first baseman seems to look back at him and ask if it was fair. Then Bucknor doesn't come up with the out call (not shown on this clip) until immediately after the first baseman says something else to him. This is just one of those tough darn-if-you-do, darn-if-you-don't situations, but it just looks bad.

And the spot gets MUCH bigger than the bag when the defense intentionally removes the bag.

@JonnyCatsays you only get groupies if you are a graduate of Pro School

The line that I get nearly every weekend doing travel ball. I'm at the backstop getting a drink and I'll here: Hey Studley, my ex has the kids this weekend. Can I buy you a drink after the game ? Italicize fond for that sultry, sensual delivery. I think it'd be bad umpire etiquette to refuse.

I went to the MLB Umpires site (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/umpires/) to check and was dismayed to see that it appears that they have not updated it in several YEARS as the passing of Wally Bell is still the lead story. Checking the All-Time roster for those initials and then checking The Google, the MJ is for former AL umpire Mark Johnson who passed away in November of 2016. http://www.closecallsports.com/2016/11/former-american-league-umpire-mark.html

I won't let the umpiring profession down.

I could walk "crotch first" into any bar if I knew Napoli had my back.

I want to get with my partner and hit the gate, but if my partner pulls this, I'll meet him at the locker room...and then tell him why I left him.

You guys might want to take a break from UE and do what a Spanish gentleman I worked with many moons ago used to say... "I go home be with family"

Are they really, really tiny?

A team isn't allowed to do anything that alters the play of the other team. There is some subjectivity umpires apply to this, particularly in the scenario you mentioned. Some players also like to time the hollering exactly when the pitcher is releasing the ball. They also like to direct things at the opposing players. Exactly what kinds of actions are distracting rests in the umpire's judgement. But as a rule, a good approach is to make sure the coaches know you're on the lookout for this kind of thing and nip it early, lest it becomes a problem later. A team shouldn't say anything to or about the other team. They should only support their own players.

Wonderful, you need to keep a Pantone color swatch thing in your ball bag. I suppose it will come in handy on those days when you're working a game in the morning and picking out colors for the living room in the afternoon.

Bought a set of Mask Pads from @Stk004They arrived today exactly as described. Very smooth transaction!

I'll get one more kick... THERE!... on this dead horse... If you guys read the article, and understand the context, the pitcher in question threw a complete game no-hitter. As in, there were 27 batters he faced wherein this "egregiously distracting glove logo" could have been addressed by the umpires. And what are we seeing in the clip? Out number 27. Does he still have the glove on? Yes. Then it must not have been an officially-interpreted distraction. Umpires didn't miss anything; the glove is legal. Case closed, call the equine renderer to get this carcass off the field.

@Jimurray, you're looking for Pantone, not Pantene... unless you want your hair to have body and bounce.

That's basketball, @scrounge (I'm not correcting you, just conversing), where a game, whether close or a blowout, can erupt into a gang battle. Wisconsin high schools, and the governing body of basketball officials, are always put into a quandary regarding basketball games in Milwaukee (in particular, but I'm sure it happens elsewhere), because in one much-publicized instance, a fight broke out between the two teams in the closing moments of the game (the dribble-out of the last seconds of the clock), and then the audience came down out of the stands upon the officials. It was bedlam. Back to baseball, I am normally a very gregarious and personable guy, but inside the fence, I now cringe a wee bit when I hear a coach tell his team "Go thank the umpire". Noooo, I don't want thanks and handshakes from fourteen 12-year olds (soon to be twenty-five of the little buggers, because the other team follows suit)... I just want your coach to sign this silly scorecard so I can get the heckouttahere and get on to the next thing on my itinerary. So if a pack of ballplayers try and shake hands or fist-bump with me, I now just address and acknowledge the lot of them with something like, "Gotcha guys. Well done team", as I start making my way towards an exit. High school players are somewhat appreciative, but they understand that we're not there to socialize. In a sanctioned high school game, the umpire crew is already at or thru the gate (or should be) by the time the first handshakes are exchanged anyway, because the school officials and home scorekeeper are taking care of those particulars. The higher levels you go, the less interaction and engagement one should have inside the fence. Certainly, during the game, if you (as a BU) are chattin' with the 1BC about this-or-that prior to live-ball activity, that's pretty innocent and innocuous. But as soon as the game is over, unlike any of the participants who may stand around and catch up, the umpires should remove themselves from that context and the confines of the field.

I'm with @noumpere on this one, @kstrunk. It is a clearly enunciated "Ball four", stated loud enough so most of the infield can hear. Even though the prior three balls pitched went unannounced because they were obviously balls, the fourth one I have made a habit of announcing in this way. I never say "Take your base" nor do I ever gesture in any manner towards first.

Thank you so much! That's an awesome idea. I was talking with my local association's commissioner and recently found out he made it all the way up to AAA and even umpired during Spring Training. I hope to talk a lot more with him about potentially forming some type of mentor-mentee relationship with me. I really appreciate the good advice!

Consistency here -- and with this kind of thing in general -- is very important. It does not reflect well upon us as a whole or as a profession when we vary so much in what we enforce. Guys in our chapter pull their hair out each year when we emphasize this point. But there's always a few who for whatever reason, don't jump on board. And yeah... it makes it that much harder for the rest of us.

So what was her move? "Hey blue, love your double ball bag" or "your one man hustle really shows you put in the extra effort. how about with the ladies?"

Get out of Dodge. I will say thank you to any positive comments as I am walking away, but I am not stopping for anything.

Agreed. Point it fair and signal the out. The way it looked, Bucknor was calling it foul after the play. Just my .02. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

The BR is not protected if he overruns first on a walk in FED. And, it isn't a "turn" toward second that's a problem -- it's an attempt to advance (although that attempt can be very slight.)

Which is why OBR went to a Pantene shade number instead of white or gray.

What's "funny" about it? Nothing illegal the way it's described.

I think that if you pull that glove in a JC game or higher, you may be looking at less assigments next year.

Where is Lester Hayes when you need him?