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Like the turf at a local school that has the boxes at 4" 😳

Ok, let's get serious then... Cap crease or no crease?

Precisely! I do high school, and my assignor has told us that we "must go by the lines." Hogwash. Even Varsity high school games have Mis-marked fields, especially batter's boxes, and we are not to be held hostage to them.

If I'm the PU I wipe out inside, front or back if they are not right.

Excellent condition original Honigs K1 Elite CP. Size Regular. No signs of wear or any stains. Asking $50 plus shipping. PM inquiries or questions. Paypal, Venmo and Cashapp accepted. Sales are final.

Mark me in the camp of patent leather too. I blame it on my military time (21 years). I see the umpire uniform as exactly that--a uniform. And I try to look as professional as I can when in uniform. Patent leather is part of it. Same reason why I have my plate shoes prettied up by Leather Luster. But if we're trying to offend each other for comedic effect, I personally think the Reebok Magistrate shoes look like a war crime. Point being, we all have a different sense of style and that's okay.

I've had that conversation with F2s in front of me. "I'm giving you some off the plate, but I won't give you anything over the batter's box." If I tell one team's F2, I tell the other. The comment about marked correctly is understated, but completely germane. There are times where the batter's box line is only a couple of inches from the plate, which reduces the amount of channel/river I give.

Rule book (paraphrased) : if any part of the ball crosses over any part of the plate, it’s a strike. better for most of us (assuming the boxes are marked correctly): if any part of the ball crosses over any part of the batters box line, it’s a ball.

I think that’s it. The last seven words are what was added.

Easy now, I’m offended. [emoji23] If you’re talking about Michigan, then yes, we’re still rocking the mandatory navy… but at least we’ve evolved past the plate/base pay difference (at least around me). Even softball pays the same as baseball now. And I’ll defend patent leather too. I like how ridiculously easy it is to clean, and how it looks different from every other pair of turf or running shoes. Different in a good, professional way. [emoji6] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Every time I hear about officials shortages at all levels I think of people like that clown

Based on all the glowing feedback on the UA FB page, I think the demographic that loves the patent leather monstrosities exclusively belong to states and groups that still mandate navy shirts and plate/base pay differential. I will die on this hil lol

Here’s an updated picture from UA: The one they posted looks like a patent version of the Ambition 3. Do you have any more information on these? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And amateur guys wonder why those of us who do upper-level stuff are reticent about teaching / mentoring others on actions / movements / mechanics of an… advanced(?) method. Especially when they (the potential trainee) enter the interaction armed with “what they saw the Pros do” or “on TV”. Ya get into that whole “forbidden fruit” realm, where what the Pros do becomes the thing you/they (the trainee) cannot do, and you’re the mean, arrogant instructor who either doesn’t know anything, or is “keepin’ them down”. Then ya get a percentage of those trainees that tell themselves, “Well, I’m gonna do <this> anyway!” We keep losing or ignoring context. I do admit, I myself am sardonic with Little League, especially on this topic (mechanics, actions & movements, et. al. and training therein). It’s because I’ll be on a complex somewhere in middle America, and I’ll encounter the aged LL umpire and the younger, learned-off-MLB.tv-channel umpire, sometimes not only working the same complex, but even working the same game 😱! Inevitability, the friction and discord starts, and it’s often on the most inane of things, such as “how to take a play at 2B”.

Batter interference with F2 does not need to be intentional

Sir, the next time you come into the U.S., we're going to need you to bring MacIntosh toffee and Old Dutch All Dressed chips for everyone. Keep the ketchup chips though--they're a war crime.

James and Rich have it right and made it simple because it is. The status of the offensive player changed from batter to runner, and the elements for calling interference changed with it. Batter's interference does not require intent, whereas runner interference with a thrown ball does require intent. Where the catcher was is 100% irrelevant.

As a Canadian, I'm required by law to quote Rush within every 90 days.

Bill Miller knows how to work 2nd base on the outside. Bill Miller has taught many of his fellow MLB umpires how to work 2nd base on the outside. No matter what Bill did here, he would have been in someone's way. His movements were the "high percentage" ones to make as rarely is F4 going to come across to get this ball. This is F6's ball all the way and Bill movements are such because of that.

Agreed. Big P it is 100% descretion of the official. Any other level he gets run.

Top and bottom are pretty explanitory. Corner is a pitch that is on the plate. Edge is as far as I'm going.

HP Umpire Chad Fairchild ejected Athletics hitting coach Chris Cron (balk call on Luis Morales; QOCY) in the bottom of the 2nd inning of the #Athletics-#Twins game. With two out and the bases loaded, A's pitcher Morales was called for a balk during Ryan Jeffers' at-bat. Replays indicate that on his first pitch to Jeffers, Morales took a step back, as if pitching from Windup, while his footwork parallel to the rubber indicated Set Position, without declaring his intent to pitch from Windup Position, the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Twins were leading, 4-0. The Twins ultimately won the contest, 11-8. This is Chad Fairchild (4)'s 2nd ejection of 2026.*Official Baseball Rule 5.07(a)(2) Comment: "With a runner or runners on base, a pitcher will be presumed to be pitching from the Set Position if they stand with their pivot foot in contact with and parallel to the pitcher’s plate, and their other foot in front of the pitcher’s plate, unless they notify the umpire that they will be pitching from the Windup Position under such circumstances prior to the beginning of an at-bat."Related Ejection: E71 - Hamari / Souza (feat. Jen Pawol's balk on Kevin Gausman) (7/12/26). This is the 75th ejection report of the 2026 MLB regular season.This is the 16th coach ejection of 2026. Ejection Tally: 39 Managers, 16 Coaches, 20 Players.This is Athletics' 3rd ejection of 2026, 2nd in the AL West (LAA 4; ATH 3; SEA, TEX 1; HOU 0).This is Chris Cron's 2nd ejection of 2026, 1st since April 29 (John Libka; QOC = N [Quick Pitch]).This is Chad Fairchild's 2nd ejection of 2026, 1st since May 16 (Dan Wilson; QOC = U [Check Swing]). Wrap: Athletics vs Minnesota Twins, 7/26/26 | Video as follows: Alternate Link: Fairchild balks Morales for failing to declare Windup while in Hybrid stanceView the full article

Rich, I’m really not hung up on the catcher’s box at all. The umpire brought up the catcher being in the catcher’s box has a right to an unimpeded throw to 3B, which I would disagree with. He has a right to make the throw & not be intentionally impeded by a batter. The batter remaining in the batters box for an instant after ball four is not interference. I’ve seen umpires call batters out because they didn’t try and get out of the box to let the catcher throw to 3rd I was just pointing out to the umpire that the catcher,when throwing down to 3B, can’t run around chasing wild pitches & have the umpire give him leeway because he is a catcher Also, this is 16year old baseball at 105°, & this is what you get. Some tournaments have trouble getting empires, so it’s best to do like I did and ask after the game, If I really wanted to jack with him, I would’ve asked him what the call would be if the catcher had stepped up onto the top of the plate to receive the pitch. I had that happen years ago in a National 14 year-old tournament when my runner stealing home was tagged out by a catcher that received the pitch as he stepped up onto the plate and prevented my batter from protecting my runner with a swing When I called time and went out to question the call, the infield umpire got involved and he agreed the catcher can’t come out from behind the plate and keep a batter from swinging. So, my runner was awarded home

I think you would have to do your own research. Most of us amateurs would not care to put much effort into MLB's changing rules/interps regarding pitch clock. If it relates to an MLB happening Jomboy or CCS will cover it.

Why are you so hung up on the catcher’s box? There’s no reference to the catcher’s box in any rule set regarding batter or runner interference. As @jimurrayalterego has pointed out, this is simply a runner interfering with a throw, which must be intentional or it’s nothing.