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I want to extend my congratulations to and make you all aware, that our very own@MadMax has been selected for the plate in the Arizona 6A, (our largest schools), HS State Championship game. The game is next Tuesday May 18th and is held in the Angels' spring training stadium. Our umpiring association has an annual get together at the game to which all of the State's HS coaches are also invited. All in all, it's quite a deal. He's earned the spot based on evaluation by our association and review of the HS coaches we work with. When I heard the news I immediately thought back to the uncomfortable conversation Max had with his first assignor here in AZ. Why hadn't he been working varsity games in his home state? Was he qualified to work the national level PG event we were holding that weekend? As I recall, his first role was bringing ice water to us during the event. The first games we worked together, Max jumped in and worked three man without being compensated. In the nearly four years since then Max has taken every opportunity to work his butt off and get better. There have been endless numbers of youth games on scorching, dusty fields. Clinics and camps, taking advantage of every opportunity to learn and improve. His summers have been occupied with college and now independent ball. His primary in season focus has shifted to NAIA baseball. I still hear from so many umpires that honors like this are "political", whatever that means. Max is still an outsider here to a large degree and has much less tenure then most of the umpire working for our association. So it's gratifying to see a clear example of merit being reward. Way to go buddy!

Congrats @MadMax! If you didn't know, I looked up on the Arizona Scholastic Umpire Association and it says that as a gift for this accomplishment, you get to pick one item from the Wilson Umpire Catalog.

Well, obviously BR's father had the touch at third base...no need for umpires.

@MadMax U gonna rock a sweet navy shirt? (It IS high school after all.)

It's a great opportunity to change masks every inning. The state poobahs love it when umpires do that kind of thing.

Congratulations @MadMax. How ever will you pick what mask to wear?

NFHS rule 8-2 ART. 9 . . . Each runner shall touch his base after the ball becomes dead. All awarded bases must be touched in their proper order. The runner returns to the base he had reached or passed when the ball became dead. In the event of interference, a runner returns to the base he had legally reached at the time of the interference. If the interference does not cause the batter to be out and any other runner cannot return to the base last legally occupied at the time of the interference, he is advanced to the next base.

The general saying is that "the batter can't induce a balk." It's a little hard to tell from your descriptoin, but I think that's what happened. here's the FED rule (OBR is the sam, at least in concept): 1. If the pitcher, with a runner on base, stops or hesitates in his delivery because the batter steps out of the box (a) with one foot or (b) with both feet or (c) holds up his hand to request "Time," it shall not be a balk. In (a) and (c), there is no penalty on either the batter or the pitcher. The umpire shall call "Time" and begin play anew.

A: don't allow this. It's illegal and bush. If you can't do the right thing, then do the next best thing (which isn't nearly as good). If the opponent is disadvantaged by the bounce, kill it and enforce as if the ball went out of play. Otherwise, play the bounce.

Way to go Max. Have a great game.

2010 SITUATION 13: R3 is on third and R2 is on second with no outs. Both runners attempt a double steal. As R3 gets into a rundown between home and third, R2 advances and stays on third base. With R2 on third base, R3 commits interference during the rundown. RULING: The ball is dead immediately. R3 is declared out for the interference. R2 will be kept at third base since he had legally reached third at the time of the interference. (8-2-9, 8-2-8) 2010 SITUATION 15: With one out, R3 is on third base and R2 is at second base when B4 misses the sign for the squeeze bunt. B4 hits a high chopper near first base as R3 touches home plate. F3 fields the ball, touches first to retire B4 and sets to throw to third in an attempt to put out R2 who got a late start going to third base. As F3 releases the throw, B4 intentionally reaches out and hits his arm for obvious interference. RULING: R2 is declared out for the third out due to B4’s interference. R3’s run will count as he had legally acquired home before the interference occurred. (8-4-2g, 8-2-9, 5-1-1e)

Congrats @MadMax Try not to suck!

Congratulations @MadMax Have fun and enjoy the game.

What do you wear for an under shirt? I had a particular issue with some of the slick "wicking- compression" shirts allowing my uni shirt to slide up ( for me its in the back ) I ordered the shirt stays but before they arrived I tried a different method. I wear boxer briefs and when putting on my under shirt I always put that shirt over my jock ( which was over my boxer briefs). I found that if I wear the shirt over the boxers and then put the jock over the under shirt the jock band holds my uniform-shirt in place Very Very well now and I do not need the shirt stays. The jock band being so "stretchy" seems to have a decent amount of grip to keep the uniform shirt held in place once tucked into the pants.

Congratulations sir!!!! Call 'em as if you see 'em!

I guess I ignore too much. I don’t notice jewelry all that often. Once the games start, I’m looking for game-related stuff and trying hard not to miss that stuff (pitches, balks, calls, etc) to notice if a player has a small bracelet or chain. It’s gotta be pretty bad before I notice it. I’m getting better, but not there yet. I’ll be honest and say I agree with Max here though. I ask it every plate meeting about being legally and properly equipped, so I did my part to a large extent. I’m not legally responsible if the coach misses the necklace- or they don’t clean their water bottles clear of Covid and a player gets sick. I’m there to umpire a baseball game, not be fashion police. I know I have to make some efforts here, but it seems out of place in my mind. What’s next, penalizing and judging uniform modification infractions or hair styles? Long hair could be unsafe and it’s becoming more common on the ball fields. At some point, we just ask our question and then play ball, right? I know some of this is semantics and over-simplifying a problem- but when is our due diligence enough?

Congratulations @MadMax!

Congrats @MadMax!

If Wolfe can sell you the patches, just get magnets. They work the best out of everything I’ve tried

I'd absolutely buy all 4 if you find them.

It's always a great honor. enjoy the ride.

@JimKirk, thanks for taking time to clarify that!

Congratulations @MadMax !! Don't suck!!! (I am confident that you won't)

Funny story – Working a sanctioned HS tournament, so a strict "No Jewelry" policy. Big third baseman for the visiting team comes up in the top of the 1st. He's got not 1, not 2, but 3 huge metal rope necklaces on. I direct him to stop and take 'em off. The 3BC ambles down and inquires as to the holdup. I reply, "He can't be wearing all those necklaces, coach." Coach: "But necklaces can be worn for religious purposes!" Me: "Sure, but they gotta be taped down and under the shirt. Besides, what does he need 3 ropes for?" Coach: pause ... "He's really religious." ------- Listen, guys, just ask your question, "Are all players legally and properly equipped?" at the plate meeting, thereby CYA verbally, and then address any issue or instance that occurs, if it does, discreetly.

It's not so much a safety issue alone, more like a "safety and liability" issue. Schools districts, and by extension the NFHS who represents them, are terrified of litigation. Wait, why?! Your "solution" to this is to eject more participants and more often?! Oh that'll improve your game's management, sure thing! Look, I was going to address this in your other topic thread: ... but I'll address it here, too. It appears or reads like you're seeking out... not outright problems... but to complicate your management of that game. We've discussed at length (and levels of nausea) how a plate meeting should best be conducted to make it brief, effective, and set the tone for the game to follow. Umpires who trot out any mention of "sportsmanship" are just wasting their breath. Even more maddening is to go through the whole rigamarole of "If you don't agree with a call, then call (or ask for) Time and approach the umpire who made the call. If we need to get together... blah blah blahhhhhh". This nonsense only accomplishes 2 things, neither of which are what you'd intended when you "just had to" get that word in: 1) for those coaches that do know "how this works", you've just insulted them, and 2) for those coaches who don't know "how this works", you've just encouraged them to challenge you (and your partners) on everything they don't like! Jewelry – especially being so confrontational about it – is in that same vein. I've worked for/within dozens of baseball organizations / tournament series / leagues across the country, and I can count on one hand the number that actively prohibit "jewelry" being worn by its participants. Furthermore, even if a league or organization or event prohibits jewelry, only one – NFHS (actual sanctioned High School games) – codifies an additional penalty of "Restricting the Head Coach (to the dugout)". For the life of me, I can't figure out why, and how this is effective game management. A none-so-insignificant number of high school coaches here in Arizona are former Major League, Minor League, or NCAA participants (players, coaches). Do you really think they want to be lectured about jewelry and sportsmanship at a plate meeting? Furthermore, do you really think that they should be restricted to the dugout simply because one of their teenaged players is being a forgetful dumbass and is wearing a "religious" necklace, untaped-down? Again, the only reason that the High Schools (the educational system) is so stringent about this is the liability and litigation. And why do (we) umpires get so over-involved and pedantic in enforcing the exact minutiae of these rules? Because we don't want to be sued / conjoined in a lawsuit!!! Right. Understandable. But there is something to knowing the conditions and context in which you're working! Is this a high school scrimmage? Then we don't really need NOCSAE SEI-High baseballs. In fact, most amateur baseball tournaments and leagues supply their own baseballs (and in two memorable cases, one uses Badens, while the other uses Wilson A1010 Blemishes). On any given weekend, we'll have three different tournament series going on across the valley. One definitely uses OBR as the core ruleset, another uses NFHS as its core ruleset, and the third?... Could be either, or both mashed together. The point is, the catchers in these tournaments are under no obligation to wear a One-piece NOCSAE -certified helmet-mask, nor a NOCSAE -certified CP with tags present. The batters can wear a helmet that has a loop of tape holding the ear-jaw pad in since the adhesive is long gone. If the tournament has a Drop-3 bat rule, and the kid steps in the box with a Drop-5, then we get it corrected. If he bats his way on base with that Drop-5, and the defensive team points out that it's in violation of the tournament rules, we call the Batter-Runner Out, and prohibit the use of that bat for the game any longer. If the kids wear those silicone bracelets, or those breakaway-rope necklaces, are they really going to imperil the kids' lives? Point is – we're not holding up the game, we're not scrutinizing all these points, we're not showing off how in charge we are, and we're not restricting or ejecting anybody! Safety is important. Under the age of 12, where these kids fling bats and the catchers have this bad habit of turning their head on a pitch... well... anywhere near them, then absolutely they should wear a HSM! And, at that age, they really shouldn't wear metal necklaces that could choke the wearer during a tag or a slide. But for these older kids, if we're spending an exorbitant amount of time and energy in "checking every box on the checklist", we're just going to embroil the participants against us. Even in a varsity High School game, am I really going to stop everything cold, warn the coach and restrict him, just because his starting F1 trots out there with a necklace on? No, there's easier, less abrasive, more discreet ways of getting a solution.

Hey I don't know why Virginia's getting tied in here too, we can wear black now. Most guys don't because the shirts are expensive though

Why am I the brunt of the "navy" jokes as if I'm the one who's responsible for making us wear Navy?!

All-Star started their “deerskin” with a particular color - one with an orange or pumpkin tint. You see that here with these pads on this mask of which of writing has only 12 remaining: https://www.ump-attire.com/Products/FM4000MAG-UMP-BK-TN/All-Star-Black-Magnesium-Umpire-Mask-with-Deerskin That color of deerskin could no longer be sourced, and there is a new color. The pads only version is here of the new color, which is certainly different: https://www.ump-attire.com/Products/FM4000MAG-RP-DS/All-Star-FM4000MAG-Umpire-Mask-Replacement-Pads-Deerskin So, you are correct, there are 2 versions, but only due to the changeover. There will be 1 moving forward. I will add these are tough to describe in copy as doeskin and deerskin to some is a material, whereas to others it’s a color. But this hopefully should clear up the misunderstanding.

In my 27 years as an umpire I have yet to see a player, coach or parent object to jewelry. Not once.

Know you said you’ve tried Smitty but was it the V2 body-flex version. I’ve got several of these and think they are a little longer. https://www.ump-attire.com/Products/S314-BK/Smitty-V2-Major-League-Replica-Umpire-Shirt-Black-with-Charcoal-Grey

Umpire Shirt Stays | Ump-Attire.com

Yes, a coach has no authority over parents. Even worse, parents might have authority over coaches given that they are spending their money. If you choose not to understand hyperbole, I will go into even more detail. We have two main options: 1. Use the HC. 2. Use the TD. In 1, I'm relying on influence and persuasion. If it works, great. If not, what am I doing? Option 2 anyway. Now let's look at the collateral damage--you are holding what is most likely a subordinate responsible for their bosses' actions. Don't put people in a situation where there is an ethical dilemma or a conflict of interest. Just go the route where things will get done.

While it needs to be addressed, this seems more of a fan issue than an HC issue. I think you're putting too much blame on him. Once it happened the second time, I'd have worked through the TD to deal with a more permanent solution for the fan.

I've had this problem this year for the first time ever. I had a home team visiting team stereo competition in a game this year. Each team trying to out volume the other. It's extremely annoying to say the least.

Our Instructional Chair for OCBOA @grayhawkcreated this training video for our association. It does a good job of explaining the rule, details the intent and then has multiple video examples to reinforce the points made in the narrative. All credit to Steve for putting this together.

A walk is the right to advance to the next base without liability to be put out by the defense. It is not the right to miss a base, and the liability to be put out reinstates when he misses it. The window for an appeal opens instantly, and alert F2's—almost always the smartest player on the team, at least above HS JV—will take advantage. If R3 can't be bothered to touch HP during his advance, why would you penalize the defense for noticing it?