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One thing I've seen my last 2 varsity games is 3B coaches going through a ridiculous amount of signs to their batters...On every pitch..with no one on....with 2 strikes.....and then longer rounds of signs with baserunners. Batters are properly standing one foot in the box taking the signs, but 'cmon...do we need signals with a 2-2 count and no one on???????

An umpire is a human of this planet. If the other coach and parents aren't willing to do something about this type of behaviour then certainly being a decent citizen you need to address it. CJK has a great suggestion on this but to just "leave it for someone else" is irresponsible. Competitive or not it is just a game. Kids don't need that kind of garbage in their lives. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

NCAA uses a stopwatch. How is that arrogant? The problem is this. 60 seconds isn't enough. Give them 90 and then enforce it.

http://www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/lookit/2017/4/9/15237312/umpire-condom-steps-brewers-cubs-keon-broxton Way to go Mr. Nelson.

@Matt In my neck of the woods that behavior is unacceptable and against the bylaw rules as stated in most if not all of the organizations I officiate for. That being said it would be within the purview of the umpire to handle that business. Sadly many adults find berating children is acceptable in today's highly competitive sports since of course "they can take it" or they think it will make them tougher... whatever. My position is clearly stated, right or wrong.

I underlined and highlighted the appropriate parts of this question. 12 year old KIDS. RETARD. IDIOT. I hear an adult coach call a 12 year old child on a baseball field a retard or an idiot he is instantly ejected. No warning needed since this is something I would expect any adult to know is 100% unacceptable behavior. If the parents of this team are not willing to stand up for their children then I will in this one game. If a coach called my kid (who happens to be 12) an Idiot or Retard there would be a serious conversation with the BOD and league president that day as well as with the coach as I packed my son's gear and headed for the parking lot right then and there. @beerguy55 I agree with you that there are instances where an Umpire should not jump into the team dynamics however I would hazard a guess if we polled 100 adults the majority of them would agree that calling 12 year old kids idiots and retards would fall into unacceptable behavior which is not really subject to interpretation of acceptable/unacceptable behavior. In this situation I am going with the coach needs to leave, now. I would not want to hear this from a Varsity HS coach much less for little kids.

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I have seen a bunch of posts inquiring about the +POS Cobra CP. The only information I found online was not good at all. So I went ahead bought one and wanted to share my review with everyone that might interested in purchasing one. Please keep in mind this is my first video review of anything ever. Hope it answers some questions about it. Tha

There are obviously a couple masks on eBay that have changed from Adidas to Nike in this past week. My question is this: since they are majorly secondary market products, is there a way to tell them apart and do you care?

I'm in TOTAL agreement with all those who say never shrink the zone because batter is bunting. Personally, I'm in favor of doing all I can to make the zone BIGGER, regardless of the circumstances.

Just seeing this. I think I have a pair. I have no idea what the normal going price is so make me an offer.

Well, true story. Travel ball, about 15 years ago. Daddy-coach didn't like the attitude of his son, so he took him past the dugout and slapped him. I could see it from A. Now, being both LE at the time and an umpire, I knew there was nothing I could do. It was his own son, and it didn't rise to the the level of malicious punishment, so I had no legal reason to intervene. There was also no rules authority to allow me to intervene. Did I like it? No. Did I have the means to do something? Not really. You will get far further if you save your reaction for the ears that need to listen. If they listen, then the situation will be handled. If they don't, then you would have looked even worse intervening on the field.

Has anybody ever come across a decent set of shin guards with hooks/eyes that don't rust?

It goes beyond the rules at this point. It's basic human decency. Sometimes you just need to umpire and put the jerk coach in his place.

And you'd be misapplying it. As a writer, you know what taunting and baiting are, and the examples provided in the rule, though not exhaustive, certainly point in another direction from what the OP describes. The OP is abusive behavior, which is more serious than unsporting behavior. It calls for adult intervention, not sports official intervention. As a parent, I know I'd have my kid off that field faster than any umpire could stick his nose in the situation. Frankly I'm amazed at what parents will tolerate from their kids' coaches.

Tank, Is this the first time have had an ignorant coach, coaches, manager, posse, gang, show up at a 10u tournament and act like a bunch of idiots? There pretty much seems to be one team that ruins the day for every tournament I've called in 13 years ... from 18u down to 8u. I read your entire story — waiting for something shocking — and never found it.

What's "natural" about batting?

Got my first weekend of the new plate pants. Love them. Had combo smitty through most of last year. Usually had to hike them a little to give when I get into my stance. These guys slide so nice on the shin guards and never have to worry about them getting caught. Also washed and dried for the first time (on tag instructions) and crease seemed to hold.

Here in Oregon, State law says, "A sports official may order a coach, team player or spectator to leave the premises at which a sports event is taking place and at which the sports official is officiating if the coach, team player or spectator is engaging in inappropriate behavior." Failure to abide by that ruling is considered Criminal Trespass, a Class C misdemeanor. Although I don't think many parents would ever let it get to that point.

I'm pretty sure if I heard a coach call a youth player a "retard," I would find the next convenient time to express to the head coach one-on-one that I find the term offensive. "Greg, there's a history in my family that makes the word 'retard' a big problem for me, and I'm just going to ask you and your guys to pick a different word for the rest of the day. It's water under the bridge right now, forgive and forget, but if I hear it again I may take it personally. Can you get that message across in your dugout? Thanks, I appreciate it!" I wouldn't feel uncomfortable making this request, sincerely and without any hint of confrontation; I also wouldn't have a problem explaining to a TD or UIC later that I had initiated this exchange with a coach. And if personnel form that team can't comply with my request and I take it personally, Greg won't be surprised at the result. He might not like it, but he had his chance to fix it.

A balk is an attempt to illegally deceive a runner. Pitchers try to legally deceive runners all the time.

NEE one. NEE two.

11U? I'm pretty sure something was still moving. Yes, something moving is legal (since coming set requires everything to stop moving). But I might send F2 out to tell him not to stop everything during his pitch.

Not as described. But, I *might* know an ump or two who would bait the coach into a valid ejection, just to get him out of there. I'm not saying that's a good idea -- if fact, I'll say that usually , it isn't.

You have that backwards (or at least a little sideways). In FED, runners return TOI, except on a FPSR. In OBR, runners return TOP when the BR hasn't reached first at TOI, otherwise, it's TOI.

For OBR, if the batter-runner has not reached first base when INT is called, then all runners return to TOP. The exception to this is an intervening play at the plate. Runners return in OBR in the aforementioned scenario. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

A "foul tip" (straight and direct from the bat to the mitt and caught) is the same as a "swing and a miss" (except in two very rare circumstances). So, rephrase the OP as "batter swings and misses while runner steals second -- is the runner allowed to stay at second?" and the answer is obvious.

By the book, PU should be returning home (R1 reaching 3B without a play) and has it all here. BU should be able to help, as his only other job is the BR, who presumably is standing on 2B without a play. PU alone should rule on the overthrow; any umpire who sees it may rule on the OBS.