Jump to content

Umpire in Chief

Administrators
  • Posts

    8,710
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    85

Posts posted by Umpire in Chief

  1. This thread was just recently brought to my attention again and I wanted to add a twist.

    Here's the original post:

    I received this in an email from a colleague and thought it was an interesting situation...

    I have a question on the interpretation of the infield fly rule...

    Here is the example...

    We have runners on first and second with no outs, batter hits a pop fly to the second baseman just short of the fringe of the outfield. The second baseman darts off to cover second base on the hit. The first baseman darts off to cover the play at first and the ball drops on the infield just behind where the second baseman would have been had he not ran to second for the play. Do we have infield fly?

    When the fielder does not attempt to catch the ball on an infield fly is it still considered and infield fly? I thought we always allow the ball to make its downward track first before we make the call so we can determine where the fielder is in relation to the play. This would constitute the ordinary effort- Correct.

    Let me know what you think.

    Unanimously we all said that this would still be an IFF.

    Here's my twist...

    Lets now imagine the infield is playing the "Big Pappi" defense. With runners on 1st & 2nd and less than 2 outs. Now I've never seen the shift in this situation, but let's just imagine for argument's sake.

    In Case you're not familiar many times when big lefties come to bat the infield will shift where
    F3
    plays on the line,
    F4
    plays a shallow Right-Center Field,
    F6
    plays to where traditionally
    F4
    would be,
    F5
    plays close to where
    F6
    would traditionally play.

    Situation 1:

    So the shift is on and there is a pop up which would normally be an IFF to a spot, fair, just behind third base. F5 because of the shift is no longer in position to make the catch "routine." Would you call this an IFF?

    Situation 2:

    So the shift is on and there is a pop up which is hit to shallow right center where F4 now is. Do you rule this an IFF situation because the ball was able to be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, even though had the shift not been on it wouldn't have been an IFF situation?

  2. Okay, I'm not so hot on my picks, but I'm going to keep on going. There is a lot of good football happening this weekend, I'll miss most of it with an AAU triple-header Saturday. So I'll have to rely on the highlights on ESPN.

    Biggest game of the week:

    Vanderbilt @ Georgia. I cant say it enough two tough SEC schools which are both playing very well. I'm going with the favorite Georgia. I think their offense is better than Vandy's Defense and their defense will keep the Vandy in check. Winner Georgia.

    Another Great Game:

    Virginia Tech @ Boston College. I think a lot of people are looking past this game, but I think it will be a great one and a close game. BC has been under-rated all year and have only lost to a pretty tough Georgia Tech team. BC needs to pull out a win here as they hit the tough spot in their schedule. Virginia Tech has played very well, but has an overall easier schedule than BC. Virginia Tech wins on the road in what should be a great game.

    Obligatory ECU pick:

    ECU will win over Memphis. No commentary other than if they loose they will suffer the same fate as Clemson and be banned from receiving a pick for the rest of the season.

    Upsets, I see 2 games which have a great potential for upsets;

    Ohio St @ Michigan St. Ohio State is not the team they once were, but Michigan St has been more consistent. They're playing at Michigan in a tough environment. Michigan State beats Ohio State.

    Pittsburgh @ Navy. I don't know why I just feel an upset in this game Navy is playing their best football in years and beat a tough Wake Forest on the road. Pittsburgh has been highly inconsistent loosing to Bowling Green, beating three nobodies, then winning against a tough South Florida team. Navy wins.

    I'm going to stick to my formula of not picking the easy games and going out for an upset or two.

  3. Welcome aboard! Were glad to have you. You'll probably have a few bad habits from coaching you'll need to break :wow:, but I'm sure you'll have a blast umpiring and staying involved in the game. Keep us posted how things go for you and we'll be here to help answer questions, explain situations, or even give a smart ass comment or two.

  4. I will strongly second timing. In my personal experience when I have messed up the most is when I've had poor timing. It may not bite you every time, but it's a time bomb (pardon the pun) which will get you if you don't pay close attention to it. Going back to my first year I remember how I thought everything happened so fast even on a small diamond, now I realize in the vast majority of situations I have all the time in the world and can think about what is happening.

    My second piece of advice is to go onto the field with the right attitude. Everything gives you a learning experience. Pay attention to your partners and learn from them even if it is learning what not to do.

    I would also say keep a game journal. Originally I had a small notebook I wrote down happenings of games so I could ask more senior umpires questions. Make notes on what I had issues with what I felt I did well in the game and what I didn't do well. This gave something I could measure my progress with and gave me specific areas to look at for improvement and helps me remember specific questions to ask more senior umpires for their points of view. I now keep a blog for my game journal (which reminds me to enter my games from this weekend).

    Start with the things mentioned above by Michael & I and you will have a good solid foundation to build upon and in a few weeks you will be able to start looking into other things.

  5. Which post should win this months nomination contest?

    Choose from the posts listed throughout the forum(s), and vote for your favorite post now.

    What is PostOf The Month?

    Post of the Month is a contest that select posts on which we would like the community to commit to as a group and then comment/discuss on them during the course of the selected month. Any listed post is eligible for the Post of the Month selection.

    What determines a Topic Of The Month?

    Post Of The Month is based on a simple nomination system. Throughout the selected forums, members can nominate their favorite topic by clicking on the award nomination button below the post.

    The posts with the most nominations during the course of the month are displayed on this thread using the poll feature. At the end of the month, the posts with the most nominations are the award winners of the contest.

  6. 0 for 4, not a good week for picks UIC. :)

    Hey, I went 1 & 4 with my bonus pick. I picked UNC over ND. :) Otherwise I picked crap. :WTF Wanna win big bet against me...

    Clemson, I've now got all of their Kool-Aid out of my system. They cam play St. Mary's school for the deaf and blind's JV squad and I won't pick another Clemson game.

    ECU, I have no clue, UVA is not a good team, and too look bad against them...:wow:

    LSU, I'm sadly disappointed not only that they lost but that they got spanked. But this furthers my point about the SEC being the best football conference. All teams play tough and anything can and will happen. LSU is a team which has historically depended on having a good offense and a dominate defense had a Big 12 defense show up.

    Oklahoma, What can I say they were, and still are completely over-rated. Which isn't saying much for Texas, who is also over-rated. That Texas is now #1 having beaten an over-rated team but proved they have no defense. There has to be some conspiracy against 'Bama being #1. They've played a much more demanding schedule than Texas. That being said, 'Bama is heading into an easier part of their schedule other than LSU, while Texas is playing a much tougher part of their schedule. And that doesn't account for over-rated Missouri (who has probably the easiest Big 12 schedule). But I did say:

    This could be a high scoring event.

    Knowing that neither team could play a real defense.

    I also said:

    If neither plays well I could even see the winner of the game loosing ranking.

    I'm rather disappointed they didn't. If Texas had put up a defense against Oklahoma, I'd be content with their ranking.

    For what ever reason the voters are in love with the Big 12 as conference - and they are good - but highly overrated, especially the Big 12 South.

    I want the BCS title game to be 'Bama, who should win the SEC to play whoever wins the Big 12.

  7. Per a suggestion form a member I would like to announce a post of the month contest.

    Here are the details:

    Since October has already began all posts beginning 10/01 are eligible.

    If there is a post you see which is pretty informative, funny, or otherwise grabs your attention as being worthy for post of the month. Please let me know via Private Message. Please don't nominate yourself and nominate as many post as you'd like. -- Posts by me are ineligible.

    After 10/31 I will pick both from suggestions and all other posts on the board.

    The winner will be announced the first week of November.

    Prizes:

    Our respect and admiration. :wow:

    An announcement that you are the winner in this post

    You will be recognized as winner of Post of the Month in the left column.

    You will be recognized with a message in your visitor messages.

    Get out there and make some great posts.

  8. I received this email last night through the contact us link at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately, I do not know who it is from as the email address didn't match any email addresses people had registered with, or anything similar and they didn't sign their name.

    Warren

    You have a great site. I really enjoy both the information and the friendlier members than some other places. Keep up the good work.

    I belong to a few other sites related to my job most of which have contests to recognize their members. Some Ive seen are Member of the Week/Month. Post of the Week/Month. Top poster for the week/month. Im sure you get the picture. Have you thought of having something like that at umpire empire? Some places give a prize others don't I think the regognition is as good as some of the weird prizes which are given

    Just a thought.

    Who ever you are this is a great idea and I would love to give you credit and I don't want to publish your hotmail email address.

    Lets start with a post of the month contest. The prize will be a little graphic in your user profile and both an announcement as the winner and I'll put something in the side column too.

    My site is still a bit small for member of the month/ or week and with amateur baseball season quickly winding down but as the site grows that's another Idea to look into.

    As for a top poster I like the idea but for the traffic I'm getting and once again the season winding down that is something i will keep in my back pocket for later.

    Thanks for the suggestion I'll create another post to officially announce the contest.

  9. October 9, 2008

    Dear District Administrative Staffs and Local Little League Baseball Officials:

    Beginning with the 2009 Little League Baseball season, baseball bats with a diameter of 2 ¾ inches are no longer permitted for use in the Junior League Division of Baseball.

    Baseball bats with a 2 ⅝-inch diameter are now the standard for all teenage baseball divisions (Junior, Senior and Big League).

    The "minus-3" requirement - overall weight (in ounces) of a bat can be no more than three ounces below the overall length (in inches) of the bat - remains in effect in Senior and Big League Baseball divisions, but is NOT a requirement in Junior Baseball.

    Also, in effect for the 2009 season is the requirement that all non-wood bats used in Little League Baseball Divisions and below shall be printed with a BPF (bat performance factor) of 1.15 or less.

    Sincerely,

    Little League International

  10. Well, ECU over Va Tech is looking more like an upset, unless you guys start winning again, and I have no problem with that. Again, if you get back into the Top 25, it makes us look better, considering it's our only loss at this point.

    Well ECU won't see the top 25 again the rest of their schedule isn't impressive including Marshall they'll have to win by 20+ points each game to make it back to maybe 25.

  11. MLB has announced their crews for the NLCS and ALCS.

    ALCS Umpires:

    Tim McClelland -- Crew Chief

    Derryl Cousins

    Brian Gorman

    Brian O'Nora

    Alfonso Marquez

    Sam Holbrook

    NLCS Umpires:

    Mike Reilly -- Crew Chief

    Mike Winters

    Gary Cederstrom

    Jerry Meals

    Ted Barrett

    Mike Everitt

  12. Sending the punk kid home for the rest of the fall ball season will do absolutely nothing. Its probably close to over anyway. I'd have him suspended for the entire Spring 09 season. That will teach him and his daddy a lesson.

×
×
  • Create New...