RingEmUp

HS playoffs I'm PU and on a foul tip the R1 steals second and parents were flipping out saying it was a foul ball. I just laughed and shook my head no. Very same type of play but in 16u travel ball I had to explain to the coach that a foul tip is still a live ball.

As PU I am not typically watching the pitchers feet as closely as I do the shoulders and hands. Clearly this is an area I still need to get better at. I would say this was an all-in-one move and he never broke contact with the rubber. The more I think about the more I am convinced that this should have been a balk but my partner was sure that it wasn't. We didn't get to discuss it much since we had two more games to go that day.

I know its been a while since I posted but I just haven't had the time. I've been lurking mostly. Summer woodbat league 16u, MLB rule set. I'm PU, base loaded, partner in C. Pitcher had a strange pickoff move, I felt it was a balk but partner disagreed and as PU I tend to defer to base ump on these types of calls. Right handed pitcher would step over towards second base but pump fake to third base.

This was in Florida and they wanted us to use FED.

It was AAU under FED rules.

Not an intentional walk but I did warn the coach and catcher to move back in. At some point the catcher needs to be in the vicinity of home plate at the time of delivery. I consider outside the batters box to not be in the vicinity. The HC was a true rat that complained over every call that didn't go his way and I was well past being nice at this point.

I had a coach tell me he wanted me to call his players out if they didn't slide and politely said that's not going to happen.

I actually wish I had the bigger 18" set, I have the 16.5" and have taken a couple of shots above the knee that I think the 18" would have stopped. Maybe we can all work out a three way trade, it is the MLB trade deadline after all. @‌Grayhawk gets cash @‌ElkOil gets 16.5" @‌Ringemup gets 18" As for taking any shots, I've had some good ones and felt little to nothing.

I had this very situation last year, ball beat the runner so I got an out and probably could have got an EJ (which came later in the game anyway after calling a balk because the catcher set up outside of the left-handed batters box).

Force3s hands down. Most comfortable shin guards I own and I have several sets of shin guards. Mr Ump said it best and I echo his comments.

At first I thought this was a bad EJ but then the other article came out and looks like it might be a great EJ if true that he was warned previously.

I have no problem calling a breaking ball that bounces a strike if I think its a strike. I miss a few strikes here and there, usually those are early in a game when I'm still getting mentally into the game. There are days that my brain takes more time to warm up than others. Craptastic pitchers tend to mess me up more than anything else, especially if one F1 is dealing and the other F1 can't even bounce one over the plate.

So I finally had the chance to use my Force3 HSM in a game and I know it will take some getting used to. I can't seem to get a great fit with my forehead but the mask doesn't move at all. There is definitely a gap there though. Chin pad felt tight. I'll have to mess with it some more to get it just right. I love the field of view with the HSM. I didn't take it off as much as I would the TM but I've only worn it for two games and it takes two hands to get that thing off and on sometimes. That's my report after two games of usage. Also, I love that I can feel the breeze on my head on these 90 degree days.

I have been taught the left and right hand mechanic.

Yes, it's not much different than any other level. Players are better, things get done faster it seems like. One of the umpires I recently worked with asked me if I was interested in doing some college ball and next thing I know I was getting a text from the assigner. I actually had to turn down a game because of the day job. Great experience overall.