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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.

Thanks for the reply. I agree After I posted, I called a friend of mine that used to umpire high school and Junior college and some D1 college games He said that once the catcher left the catchers box to chase the ball, all bets were off and it become a normal play with the catcher, having no special rights since he is no longer throwing from the catchers box through an occupied batters box He has seen the events I described before, but he’d never seen any umpire make that call because the runner is entitled to the baseline as long as he is just running to first I spoke to the home plate empire after the game & he first told me that the catcher has the right to throw unimpeded to a base. So I asked him what if the ball rolled far enough that the first basement picked it up and tried to throw to third, would he make the same call? He said “no, because he’s not the catcher.” So I asked him how far the catcher can run out of the catchers box before his throw becomes a normal throw, and he paused and said “you may be right, I’m gonna have to do some thinking on that play. I’ve never seen it. He also said that the catcher, being that he is a catcher has the right to have a clear throw to any base, regardless of whether he is in the catchers box or not. I told them that he may want to think on that one also, because I have coached for well over 20 years and even done some umpiring and I’ve never heard it said where the catcher has special throwing privileges even if a ball is bunted in front of home plate. We told each other to have a good day and we left it at that 😁 Another thought, a friend of mine umpired for many years and he told me one time that if you see something on a baseball field that you’ve never seen before, don’t make a call because you’re probably gonna make the wrong call 😁

Batter became a runner on ball four. Runners, performing as normal, cannot be called out for interference with a throw unless you judge intent which doesn't seem the case in your OP.

If a pitcher has a failed pickoff attempt, then gets injured on his next pitch, does the new pitcher have only one disengagement left at his disposal since it’s the same batter at the plate?

Situation. , Runner at 2B & Ball 4 in the dirt off the catchers chest protector that bounces towards the 1B dugout, approx 10’ foot off the plate in foul territory. Batter tosses bat towards his 3B dugout & starts walking towards 1B. The catcher obviously leaves the catcher’s box & picks the ball up in the grass and tries to throw the runner out at third attempting to steal. The runner stealing third is almost standing on the base as the catcher releases the ball. There’s no play there. Home plate umpire calls “batter interfere” because batter is close to the catchers throwing line, 10’ out of the batter’s box in the 1B line headed towards 1st Was this a correct call? i’m thinking that since the catcher has left the catchers box to retrieve the ball, he is no longer a catcher, and no longer entitled to any kind of catchers privileges, he is a fielder. The batter is no longer a batter since it is ball four and he left the batters box before the catcher was able to get to the ball that bounced off his chest protector and he is now a “runner.” The catcher took a step to his left to avoid hitting the batter in the helmet with his throw and now that I reviewed the video, the batter did duck his head because he was worried about getting drilled in the ear hole andthat’s when the umpire called batter interference. And, is the “batter” that is now out of the batters box going towards 1B even considered a “batter” any longer. If not, then I guess the umpire can’t call “batter interference.”

Working link for @BLWizzRanger's recommendation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B44SWC67?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

@MadMax, it's not what it says that is important, it is what it doesn't say! "Official gear bag of MLB" does no say "official gear bag of MLB umpires." Lest I also dredge up the Official Cryptocurrency Exchange Partner?