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ilyazhito

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Everything posted by ilyazhito

  1. Only if U1 goes out would there be a rotation with 1st and 3rd. Even as an inexperienced 3-man umpire, I would read the materials that my association put out, since their mechanics were in line with CCA (college) 2-man and 3-man materials.
  2. I am one of those who lost interest. There was a combination of factors that killed my baseball career, though I still am active in officiating other sports. First, I got into officiating as a college student. That meant that I had a relatively open schedule that can handle the crazy times that games start at. I also could work anywhere in the DC Metro Area, because public transit is good. Getting Uber or Lyft rides, or carpooling could fill in the gaps at those times when I have to reach a field that is off the public transit grid. This is important, because as I finished my undergraduate classes, I started thinking about getting jobs, and how compatible officiating is with work. Baseball is notoriously bad in that regard, because games can start as early as 2:30. Second, I got good at all the sports I can officiate in, but there are two sports where I have advanced the furthest: football and basketball. I tried advancing in baseball and volleyball, but I could not get past the high school level in either sport. The assigner I was working with at the time told me that I would not have a chance to move up to or in college baseball, because of the large amount of ex-pro umpires in the college baseball ranks. In football, I made it to the junior college/D3 level thanks to getting in touch with the local chapter and attending their tryout camp. I made it to semi-pro basketball by trying out, and I am currently trying to get to junior college and/or D3 basketball. The third factor is one everyone can relate to: the ennui of doing repeated bad games, often with partners who go through the motions. 13U and 14U games are the first time that baseball players play on the full-size field after spending most of their careers on the Little League field, so quality of play will be uneven. As the base umpire, I would not have much to do, because the pitchers would be throwing many walks. Steals would not be competitive, because 13U and 14U catchers do not have the arm strength of JV and varsity catchers. As a result, actual rotations are rare, even though they were extensively covered in training. At high school games, sometimes there are good matchups that require umpires to actually work, and 3-person playoff games provide some novelty, because the umpires actually have to think about where their partners are and what they are doing. Because I got tired of working bad games with no chance of advancement, and I was concerned that work would limit my availability, I decided to stop umpiring baseball.
  3. The situation was R1/R2, so all runners were forced to advance. They advanced by rule, because the ball hit me prior to passing an infielder.
  4. When I umpired, I once got hit with a line drive in C position. It hurt very much, but we stopped play and had the runners on base advance, and the batter was awarded 1st base.
  5. I love hockey too. So much so that I enjoy playing goalie on a beer league team and I am looking forward to reffing hockey.
  6. Does anyone else in this forum officiate (ice) hockey? I first thought about officiating hockey when I met a guy at an umpire camp who was also a hockey official. I've been playing goalie for a little over a year, learned how to skate, and now am practicing skating before I can buy my officiating stuff for hockey and register with USA Hockey. I'd like to hear about your hockey officiating experiences and see if anything from baseball helps with hockey and vice versa. If anyone knows of other good resources for hockey officials, please let me know. So far, I have only found https://www.reddit.com/r/hockeyrefs/ and various Facebook groups. There was also a webpage made by a hockey official in Winnipeg, https://www.wpgrefs.com/, but it is Canada-specific. If there are any good hockey referee websites or communities in the US, I would love to learn more.
  7. This is strange. I would keep the section alive, if only to discuss the Wendelstedt school and the new MLB camps. That said, I would rename the section to "Professional Umpire Education" or something similar, as the Minor League Baseball Umpire Training Academy no longer exists.
  8. Little did he know that Pat Hoberg would record a perfect game in Game 2 of the World Series that same year.
  9. ilyazhito

    Balk?

    This is a balk. The pitcher started a motion towards home plate, threw towards first, and did not step to first.
  10. A basic summary of live ball balks is: Umpire(s) will signal and call out a balk, but wait for play to end before enforcing it. If there is no batted ball, and all runners advance at least one base, the balk is ignored. If there is a batted ball, or the batter is awarded first base for some other reason (BB, HBP, Catcher's Interference), batter and all runners have to advance at least one base for the balk to be ignored. If any of these conditions are not fulfilled, the balk is enforced, and the play is ignored. If you are familiar with hockey, there are delayed penalties. What this means is if the team with the puck is fouled, the referee will raise his arm to indicate that he saw the penalty, but will not enforce it until the play ends. If the team with the puck scores, the penalty will usually not be enforced. If the other team controls the puck, play stops immediately, and the penalty will be enforced. A live-ball balk in baseball follows a similar mechanism. The infraction is identified, the umpires wait for the end of the play, and if every offensive player benefits, despite the infraction (advance at least one base safely), the balk is ignored.
  11. In my area, the schools in DC and MD mostly do not have lights. There are a few schools in Montgomery County that do (Whitman and Blake HS), but for the most part, they don't, so early starts are common. In VA, they do have lights, so JV games have been known to have 5:30 or 5:45 starts. Varsity often happens at the other school from the JV game, though having lights makes it easier on the umpires. Early starts, difficulty moving up in VA (and the high number of VA umpires), and the fact that non-pro umpires have more difficulty working college ball, at least in my area, effectively killed my baseball umpire career. I still officiate, but I will not go back to baseball unless more schools get lighted fields and games don't start obscenely early.
  12. Wendelstedt still remains open. It will still provide candidates to the advanced course at the former spring training/MiLB Academy site in Vero Beach.
  13. I agree. Bench clearing = ejection. Many sports have rules that if you leave the bench or your position during a fight, you're gone. What do y'all think about technical fouls in baseball (penalty outs if there misbehavior by the offense, base awards if the defense misbehaves)? There already are infractions that are charged penalty strikes (refusing to get in the batter's box), penalty balls (illegal pitches), base advances (balks, obstruction), or outs (interference).
  14. I agree on the pitch clock. It will make baseball faster and more.exciting just like the shot clock prevented teams from stalling in basketball. Speaking of basketball, I think baseball should adopt a technical foul for behavioral infractions that might not be serious enough to warrant an ejection. In basketball, 2 direct technical fouls equal an ejection, so if a player or manager can get put on blast without getting tossed, it might increase the level of civility in the game. It might also make people less willing to clear the benches if doing so is one step towards ejections. I would also introduce game-specific consequences for behavioral infractions. If the offense misbehaves, they are charged a penalty out. If the defense misbehaves, all runners move up one base (or the batter is awarded first, if there are no runners on). Arguing balls and strikes in a close game would really cost the defensive manager if there is a runner on 3rd, because the behavioral infraction would award a run in that case.
  15. Interesting. After all of this controversy NFHS decides to change the rules to make jewelry.legal. Was the safety angle just a smokescreen?
  16. And don't forget the residents of PA who also have to recite, verbatim, the PIAA-endorsed sportsmanship message, prior to every game.
  17. Out of curiosity, why are head-first slides now considered legal in travel baseball? Just like SeeingEyeDog, my association also covers games for a travel league that used to ban head-first slides at home plate. Is it because the organizers feel that players no longer need the "training wheels" rules that Little League has up through the Majors level? (Little League has Intermediate, Junior, and Senior divisions, but teams in those divisions are not as common)
  18. In hockey, a player on the offending team serves a 2-minute bench minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, if not a 10-minute misconduct penalty. The bench minor penalty gives the other team a power play (they play with 1 more player for the duration of the penalty, unless they score). So in hockey, a coach being ejected gives the other team a better opportunity to score.
  19. This would be considered interference. As such, interference penalties would apply. The runner from 3rd would have scored, as he had attained home before the batter interfered with the catcher's throw.
  20. I had a few scrimmages in the spring, then one 13U/14U doubleheader. That's it.
  21. I am not afraid to forfeit a game when the rules allow it and the situation warrants it. I have forfeited the game described in an earlier thread. I was also the U2 for a varsity girls basketball game that ended in a forfeit when the home coach walked off the floor to protest that his player was ejected for using profanity directed at an official ("these are some Bull$#!t refs"). He was arguing after the free throws were shot, I had to assess him a T (He waved off my partner in the Trail, the Referee, and told him "that's ridiculous" after being warned by the U1(the Lead official) for coming towards him to argue an out of bounds call and kicking the ball), and I told him that he lost coaching box privileges. I did this because I was the only official not involved in the original sequence of events. He chose to leave the court, so the Referee decided to declare a forfeit. That said, I really prefer not to forfeit games unless I have to. A coach not complying with sportsmanship rules, especially after ejection, is definitely grounds for a forfeit where the rules allow for one.
  22. Congratulations Chris! You deserved it. Finally #96 is in the big time to stay.
  23. That has to be a joke. No way USSSA will really be adopting that. How would plate specialists be reconciled with MLB's push for automated balls and strikes systems? If the better balls and strikes umpires become plate specialists, maybe we wouldn't need ABS (not that we need it now).
  24. If the ball is not batted, then only the runners have to advance one base safely. If the ball is batted, then the batter and all runners have to advance at least one base safely (including missing the following base, since the runner is not out until his base-running infraction is appealed and the opportunity to correct said infraction is lost). Jimurray, R1 was protected to 2nd base on the balk. Once he advanced to 2nd safely, the balk no longer is relevant. The out at 3rd base stands, since R1 advanced to 2nd, the base he was protected to, and went beyond his protected base at his own risk.
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