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NFHS use of the word "passes" generates what we call "string theory". In NFHS with fielders playing in a runner hit by a batted ball "passing" a string between fielders would not be out. They have some caseplays that confirm how they call it.

It will be funny... Coach LoseALot gets a text mid game from Parent KnowItAll that his Billie only got to bat twice last game and needs to bat more. And, tell him to keep crouching over like Pete Rose did because Pete had over 4K hits in the show. They will get what they deserve if they abuse the cell phone policy.

Nobody would or should ask that question in the OP unless it specified NFHS. Can you expand on that? How is NFHS different than other rulesets? It reads the same to me. NFHS 8-4-2-k Any runner is out when the runner: is contacted by a fair batted ball before it touches an infielder, or after it passes any infielder, except the pitcher, and the umpire is convinced that another infielder has a play. (5-1-1f, 6-1-5) OBR 5.09(b)(7) Any runner is out when: He is touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has gone through, or by, an infielder and no other infielder has a chance to make a play on the ball.

Nobody would or should ask that question in the OP unless it specified NFHS.

This is a consideration for me when I do 10U and kids are 4' tall

I thought for sure – for sure – the big step was going to come from the GameChanger camp. I’m not making this up, and by divulging it, I’m certainly eschewing any chance of royalties (which is where the money is, am-I-right?), I have a proposal drafted up that outlines GameChanger broadening / modifying their App so as to output to a USB-&/or-HDMI stick (think Amazon Fire) so as to display onto any typical TV. With how inexpensive LCD/LED displays now are, the thing can housed in a plexiglass box, or hung on the chain link fence, etc. No longer are we (the participants & baseball/softball public) served and disappointed by a pitiful, ancient bulb-based board that looks like it’s straight out of a Mad Max or Fallout episode, and the controls for which are long gone to the ages, or resemble a training calculator from the 1960s. Maybe I can inspire my app-wizard colleague @cgroom. 🤔 In no way am I pickin’ on you, @boyinr, you simply were the first to mention gear bags… So… <ahem> Gentlemen colleagues, if money was no barrier, you are liars if you tell me, with a sincere face, that you’d still maintain your own gear bag. If money was no barrier, we would, as a collective whole, to a man, employ a “porter service system” ala Old Dominion & DHL. Music acts (bands, etc) know they have made it big when they stop living out of a van and busking at the corner, and instead have roadies to handle, prep, and transport all their gear. Do ya think Pete Townshend cares what particular cases hold and transport his 78 guitars to each show? No, but he needs, expects, and appreciates all 78 guitars to be there. Why do you think we tip clubbies generously if they do our laundry, and set up the umpire room for us? If such service existed (at all levels), then understandably, it would need to have modular simplicity and ruggedness. Modular travel cases – which is why I find it utterly laughable that the loathsome Wilson Gear bag is the “official gear bag of MLB”, when in reality, not one MLBU actually uses it, because they don’t fit the service travel cases. The “Golden Age” of gear for us? We’re not there, yet. We won’t achieve it until and unless the current Exclusivity is ended.

Custom retrofit Wilson Gold. The pad is a planform of a medium size Riddell padding. The plates are original Wilson small size plates. Includes Fidlock buckles and Wilson neoprene harness. Very good shape and clean. Just had this retrofitted this past winter. The padding is by UmpGuard. Very low profile and breathable. Asking $230 shipped. Im willing to negotiate. If anything lower, buyer pays shipping. Please PM inquiries. PayPal, Venmo ans and Cashapp accepted.

I'll poke at this. Things are good, but we are not in the golden age yet. When @DerekGDS finally threatens the other companies enough that they finally begin innovating also, then we may be there.

My question is: How many of you are actually seeing batter's boxes 6 inches off the plate regularly?! If you are, let me add a "frame of reference" . . . The batter has his toe on the inside of batter's box line. The line is 2 1/2" wide. It is 6 inches to the plate. The plate is 17" wide. It is 6" to the other batter's box. That line is 2 1/2" wide. If you are calling a strike on the opposite batter's box line, you are calling a strike almost a yard away from the batter. Kid better grab a longer bat or bring his meterstick next time.

In my cases, the coach made it known. Twice I have had a coach answer the phone in the box. Twice I have had a base coach give himself up. The first asked me what happened (his batter struck out). The second asked me the count. Both told me they were texting and not watching. I get what you are saying about being sure. However confusing GameChanger can be, it isn't so interesting that it looks the same as checking your DMs or swiping right on your dating app of choice.

We can call "Infield fly, if fair!" We cannot call "TIME! Interference if fair!" You know that we cannot determine where the ball ultimately goes and if the interference affected/changed the play. That determination has already been made the moment we do or do not call "TIME!" The moment the interference occurs, the ball is dead OR the moment the non-interference occurs and we do not kill it, we have already determined there was no play to be made (whether that is due to a foul ball or simply "no, the fielder wasn't getting there"). Nothing else exists after that moment for that call. Maybe I am missing something (and I did misread your post initially and thought you said you saw it bounce), but I don't understand why discussion of a foul ball was even introduced. Let's run with it, though. Let's say it is not a ball clearly headed foul, but rather a ball practicing drunken monkey kung fu as it heads up the line. Again, we cannot wait to see what happens. At the moment the batter-runner "causes an incident" we have to either: (A) stop it all right there and make a call based on the ball's position (fair or foul) at that moment; OR (B) adjudicate there is no interference and allow it to play out. Waiting to see and then adjudicating is not an option (even if it is prudent). The softball change brought up by @Velho was made as an effort to rectify this created conundrum on foul fly balls (why would we call the batter out when the worst thing that would have happened is a foul ball?). I will give the softball world their due: they try to fix these problems while baseball culture (read: rules writers) largely tries to pretend they will just go away. You know I 100% agree with putting an end to the antics that we contort ourselves into allowing.

Yes, well, I'll try. I am probably going to do a poor job. It is something that typically has no support in the rules, but we would dub it a "don't do that." An offending action that the umpire does not dub illegal, but is rewarding "bad" behavior. A great example would be the College Softball World Series a few years ago: runner slides safely into second base and the play is over/relaxed. As a player goes to throw the ball back in, the runner inadvertently waves her arms, and deflects the throw. The ball careens off her hand, and she advances to third. CCS even covered it with a similar thought (there is no intermediary step): I see this play in the same vein. You don't have a play, so you can't have interference, but . . . the illicit act creates an opportunity for the offender to benefit with no recourse for the aggrieved team. I feel plays like these should be like the batter-runner picking up an errant ball four while no runners are trying to advance. We are killing it and not allowing anybody to advance. If it would have been interference during a play, why are we allowing it to create a play when there wasn't one?

It will fail, at least momentarily at some point. Also, when you roll it a ball but call a strike and the board shows you ignoring it or rolling all the way around to correct it... oh boy...

Only if through or by a fielder. Getting hit by a batted ball that the runner had no reason to expect the defense to field is still an out.

I recall (but maybe imagined that) exact reference. Other than the softball above, the only thing I'm able to find is in regards to a bunted ball: 7-11-o "After hitting or bunting a foul ball, the batter-runner intentionally deflects the course of the ball that has a chance of becoming fair" Is there another cite I'm missing?

added dimension: is the strike zone a D, 🛑, or 🟦 shape

I understand your thinking. But let's look at it from another perspective. How can you be sure what the coach is doing? In this situation, the umpire is going to get the dirty end of the stick if he accuses the coach of violating the rule without positive proof. If the umpire has positive proof, then, by all means, enforce the rule as written.

1. All Star Colbolt F3 or the Adams XV with an F3 harness 2. F3 shins. 14”. Nothing else works as well for me. 3. All Star FM4000MAG or Nike Icon with TW pads. 4. All Star Scully. Just started using it but I like it. 5. All Star cast 4 dial Indicator. Also functions as self defense tool. 6. Mizuno Plate shoes. Reebok FMs were the best. Why couldn’t Simittys copied these? 7. Jordan’s if the field is clean. 8. Diamond MMA or Nutty Buddy. I switch. I trust both. 9. EBags Mother Lode. 10. Oakley Flak Jacket XLJ with the field lenses I have all of the above (and more) as I am very fortunate. Admittedly have not dipped my toe into the newest GD gear. Missed out on the last custom Kuta. Waiting for the next release. I really feel we are in the golden age of equipment. We have a lot of options that we didn’t used to have.

We can argue all day about the strike zone. The most important element is, is the umpire consistent? Batters can adjust if an umpire is consistent. If the umpire is not consistent, then it's everyone for himself.

Unless I missed it, nobody has asked the most important question: Did a fielder have a reasonable chance to field the batted ball. Yes, runner is out. No. Then the ball is live and in play.

I figure this is coming at some point. I can’t imagine it’s that hard re:technology. Plate meeting we get handed an indicator that controls the board. Seems like everyone would be a fan of it.

Yes, sir. I was merely citing the speaker (singer?) of the words.

I want inside pitches that are not breaking balls to be closer to the plate.

So ... I'm posing some questions because there is very little consensus of how terms are used such as: ... Strike Zone ... Corner ... River ... White line ... Paint I call a lot of travel ball at a high level (PBR) and unless we are calling the top of the top level, we call strikes for pitches that are up to but not touching the white lines (batter's boxes). For those counting at home, that is a precise width of 29". River (6") + plate (17") + River (6"). If you call just the plate, just the WHITE, and you call a strike for anything "painting" the white, that's a width of about 23" outside to outside of the ball. If you use the black, add 2 inches. When a batter asks, "Blue, was that the corner?" I am saying YES if the outside of the ball was painting the batter's box. When a batter asks if that painted the zone, I only say yes if it painted the plate. I would appreciate any discussions on the true width of zones you call. Even for Varsity HS, I would guess my zone is 27" wide from outside to outside of the ball. This came from a widely shared video produced by FED.

So ... I'm posing some questions because there is very little consensus of how terms are used such as: ... Strike Zone ... Corner ... River ... White line ... Paint I call a lot of travel ball at a high level (PBR) and unless we are calling the top of the top level, we call strikes for pitches that are up to but not touching the white lines (batter's boxes). For those counting at home, that is a precise width of 29". River (6") + plate (17") + River (6"). If you call just the plate, just the WHITE, and you call a strike for anything "painting" the white, that's a width of about 23" outside to outside of the ball. If you use the black, add 2 inches. When a batter asks, "Blue, was that the corner?" I am saying YES if the outside of the ball was painting the batter's box. When a batter asks if that painted the zone, I only say yes if it painted the plate. I would appreciate any discussions on the true width of zones you call. Even for Varsity HS, I would guess my zone is 27" wide from outside to outside of the ball. This came from a widely shared video produced by FED.