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I read many of the books, but was never a hardcore fan of most of them. Wholesale discounting of a whole universe of material didn't set well with me though. It's like writing a rulebook and then issuing case plays that do the exact opposite of the rule . . .

Puberty for me. You know, girls.

Since we're off the rails here, I will say my interest in Star Wars began waning when Loopy D decided to eliminate and ignore the dozens of books, declaring them non-canon.

So there I was... ...working the bases at a JuCo game (NCAA rule book). R1, outs don't matter. The pitcher altered his delivery by stopping his free foot during the "kick," but -- this is important -- HE KEPT HIS HANDS MOVING and never did a "double set." The batting team's head coach went ballistic. "THAT'S A BALK! BLUE! BLUE! THAT'S A BALK!" I ignored him and continued to umpire. He kept going as if I didn't hear him, confidently and wrongly exclaiming: "He can't alter his delivery for the purpose of deceiving the runner. That's what the rule book says...VER-BA-TIM!!!!"

NFHS Varsity game, bottom 1st. The starting pitcher had been using the windup legally for 2-3 pitches. On a 2-strike count, after stepping back with his non-pivot foot, he came to a complete stop -frozen like a marble statue for 1-2 seconds - before continuing his delivery. Probably trying to disrupt batter's timing. As the base umpire in A, I called time, called an illegal pitch, and added a ball to the count. When I walked toward the mound to explain, the HC - a coach I've had a good relationship with over several years - immediately said, "He's been doing that all year!" I honestly believe him. I'd bet no umpire had addressed that pitcher completely stopping mid-windup. And while that's not my problem - prior non-enforcement doesn't change the rules - it got me thinking about the broader issue. There must be rules that coaches are justifiably frustrated about, not because the rule may be unclear, but because umpire enforcement is so inconsistent they genuinely don't know what to expect. A few that come to mind right now: Pitchers wearing white or gray below the elbow / white or gray on the glove Fielders wearing play sheet wristbands on their belts Running lane violations What rules do you think belong here? And do you think inconsistency is more of an attention problem (umpires not noticing violations), an ambiguity problem (the rule itself is unclear or isn't covered well in local meetings or clinics) or an appeasement problem (the umpire doesn't want to be the "bad guy" by enforcing it)?

I had the opportunity to work a HS game at Busch Stadium yesterday. 3-umpire crew. It amazed me how big the field felt and how small the stadium looked from the field. I started the game on third, but we swapped after 4 innings, and I went over to first. First play was a BANGER . . . they showed it up on the scoreboard . . . It was my day. Home team up to bat, down 1. R1. Batter hits it to left field and the left fielder misplays it. We are off to the races. PU rotates up, and I rotate to home expecting this to die at third base. It always dies at third base. There is a reason this is the Holy Grail. It never happens. Roundin' third and headed for home . . . no idea what color his eyes were . . . but here he comes. Ball firing in, head first slide . . . and I get the BIG SAFE call on the play at the plate for the winning run. And yes, I did it. The plate was already dirty, so why not. I think I should retire now.

I work 8 public school counties in my state and they all allow and do different things despite having a state athletic association. (There are even variances between conferences within the same county.) I also cover 3 private school conferences in my state who do all sorts of amazing things with their rules. We have to ask that question at EVERY plate meeting in order that we have clarity on our rules for that game that night. ~Dawg

Reminds me of one time when as the coach left the field, in a fall ball game, that I ejected him from... "you are like a prostitute. you both get paid and you both suck." Kinda fits nicely in with the topic of this thread... don't you think?

FPSR is a safety play to protect the defense. Ducking does not protect the safety of the fielder. It only protects the runner from, hopefully, a mouthful of baseball. Edited to add: And the first movement of lowing the shoulder to truck a fielder is..... wait for it.... ducking.

MAC Incredible Indy 2-Umpire June 14-18 Westfield, IN CBUA/Mid American 3-Umpire Instructional July 16-19 Kansas City MAC Incredible Indy 3-Umpire July 5-9 Westfield, IN CBUA/Mid American 4-Umpire Advanced July 8-11 Westfield, IN Mid American Sept 10-13 Kansas City CBUA/Mid American 3-Umpire Advanced Sept 24-27 Kansas City CBUA/Mid American 3-Umpire Advanced Oct 2-4 Dallas, TX

I normally wouldn't ask that in the school districts I call. We know V is straight forward NFHS. JV can be anything the coaches agreed to, open subs, batting all, whatever. We don't get lineups from a lot of JV and they tell us what they agreed to. When we get a lineup we know they are straight forward NFHS.

Yup...and you know the fun part of drop dead? The score reverts to the score of the last completed inning. So, when you have a lead change followed by a drop dead? It's always good times... Of course, none of this is the umpires' purview. I don't even tell them that the score reverts back. If they ask I simply state, "You'll have to check with your league leadership or commissioner for the final score of the game..." The irritating coaches who are on the wrong side of a lead change in an inning where we hit the drop dead will try and turn it into a negotiation..."No! There's two minutes left! No! This is a great game here! I cannot believe you are just walking off the field!" Yup, just good vibes all around...nevermind we again mentioned the drop dead rule at the plate meeting and we alerted you at 30 minutes and 5 minutes remaining... ~Dawg

Curious: 'drop dead' as full stop and not finish the inning?

It's a term all veterans will know. BCG = Birth Control Glasses = Glasses whose frames were so thick they were practically indestructible. Also made for highly effective birth control because absolutely no one thought they looked nice. The female versions had a similar name that I won't go into here.