mrumpiresir

No doubt in my mind this was intentional tripping. I have unsportsmanlike conduct and an ejection. I dare the coach to argue anything else, because he is now on a short leash.

OK I guess I inferred that the coach was ejected because of the helmeted player coaching first. My Bad

What am I missing here? Is it illegal in that league to have a helmeted player coach first base? I am aware of no HS rule that would prohibit this.

If a batter-runner misses first base, and the throw arrives after he has passed the bag, the proper call is SAFE. Treat the miss of first base as you would any missed base. There is no inadvertant appeal as there used to be so without an obvious appeal, the runner is safe. Suppose a runner advances from first to third on a base hit but misses second. When the throw comes in from the outfield and F4 just happens to step on second, are you going to call the runner out? If you do, you would be totally wrong. The runner is safe until a proper appeal is made.

Don't beat yourself up over this. Far too often, especially in a two man system, we get blocked from the play. You will learn to adjust in time, but even if you are where you are supposed to be, sometimes things happen. Make your call and live with it.

if you are being block by the runner you are too close to first to start out with---the best position is to take is a staight line from the first base side of the plate to the start of the grass on the first base side of the mound mid-way between the pitches rubber and second base. Use the same mechanics you are using now--try it it should open up the view for you. I gotta diagree with you. I used to work half way between but I wasn't getting a good look at pickoffs, a pulled foot or a swipe tag. Moving a step or two directly in toward the batter gives you a real good angle on these plays.

My experience exactly. By moving toward the mound, I find I can see a pulled foot and a swipe tag better. When there is a steal attempt, I just move in behind the throw. Easy.

I grew up on these books - we had an entire bookshelf full of them. I was almost 20 before I realized they weren't the 'real' thing, so I re-read 10-12 of the best ones. OK - I'm old. Anyway, back to the OP - Had two plate games last weekend. In the 4th inning of the 2nd game, you guessed it! Strike 2 (called) comes across the plate and I ring the kid up . Just as I was finishing the call, I realized what I had done so it ended kind of weakly. "My bad! Strike 2" and the game continued. No wisecracks, no nuthin' - it happens (although, that better be my one mistake for the season! ) We've all done it. It is embarrassing in a funny sort of way.

I find if I pivot with the ball and take a couple quick steps forward to get beind the throw and pivot right, I can get good angles and can see everything. I don't know know if this is an accepted mechanic, but it works for me.

The worst thing was the announcers not able to believe that the runner was awarded home when he was obstructed going back to third.

How, may I ask, can a runner reach a base safely when he's in jeopardy if tagged while standing on that base? Because of his poor baserunning. No rule allows R2 to be awarded third. I know this is a different play but the principle is the same. If two runners are between first and second and the ball is thrown out of play by an outfielder, the award is two bases from the time of the throw. So the lead runner gets third but the trail runner only gets one base, which is second base. we don't advance the lead runner an extra base so we can award the trail runner two bases so why would we do it now? This is just bad baserunning and the BR is out when tagged on second..

I have been doing HS and Legion ball almost exclusively. Every once in a while I help out with a LL or other youth game. To say there is no difference in the way the games are conducted is crazy. Youth games are more a teaching than competitive contest when compared to Varsity game and my attitude changes as it should. At the youth level, coaches, fans and players are less knowledgeable and often I take the time to educate people on the rules and why a call was made the way it was. Never happens in a varsity or Legion game, and it shouldn't. Just my two cents.

I met him in a Las Vegas Casino a few years ago. We chatted for a few minutes and he singed autographs for us. I remember him being genuinely friendly, quick to smile and joke with us. He will be missed by many.

I don't think people on this board gloat about how dumb coaches and fans are. It is generally accepted that fans are simply ignorant of the rules and tend to see close plays the way they want to see them, that is, we got it wrong because the call went against their team. "Go straight to your car and get out of Dodge" is the only sensible thing to do after a game. Nothing good can come from hanging around after a game to discuss rules with parents who learned them from morons such as Tim He-who-shall-not-be-named. I definately don't want to hang around and give a rules clinic to fans who think we did a poor job because their team lost. Fan education is something coaches need to do, although if I were asked to conduct a meeting with fans for that purpose I would certainly be willing to do it.

As an umpire, I will never let a coach bring out a rule book and I will never consult one on the field. What I need to rely on is my knowledge of the rules and I get this knowledge by reading the rule book. I have had situations where I wasn't 100% sure of a rule but made a ruling which I thought was correct at the time. In almost all cases I was correct because deep in the recesses of my brain was stored a rule I had read at some time in the past. And of course I would look it up after the game to verify that I made the correct call. So read the rule book religously, and never leave a game unsure of your ruling without looking it up when you get home. Never miss a rule twice.

That's what the MLBUM says also. I haven't yet found a reference to "time of touch" but that is what I thought the rule was.

You said the first baseman deflected the ball into DB territory. Since the impetus that caused the ball to go out of play was the throw by F6, award two bases from Time of Pitch. R3 scores, R1 gets third and BR gets second. If the ball had come to rest and F3 provided the impetus that caused the ball to go out of play, award two bases from the time of kick or action that caused ball to go into DB Territory. Batter Runner gets third, and R1 scores. In neither case does it matter when the ball actually entered DBT.

You have to determine who has the right to occupy the base. In the OP, since R2 was not forced to advance, he has legal posession of second base, and when R1 is tagged, he is out. Now if the BR was not out, R2 is forced to advance and R1 has legal right to the bag and R2 would be out when tagged.

I have been a member of umpire associations in three different states and in none of them was it standard procedure to contact the AD. I'm not saying it is a bad idea, it certainly is good to communicate with the school prior to a game. I've been fortunate to work with reliable people and in the five years I've been in this association there have only been one or two instances where the school did not tell the assignor of changes. Once the assignor got the date wrong and my partner and I showed up for a game that was't scheduled. The association paid us a show up fee. I guess the attitude is that those issues are between the assinger and the AD to get the assigning correct. The umpires face stiff penalties for failing to show at a scheduled game so that has not been a problem.

Surprisingly our association hasn't stressed what I think should be the requred call to your partner. Our assignor is very good at keeping arbiter updated so I know who my partner will be. I never call the school because the assignor will let us know if the game is cancelled or changed. If we don't get a call one hour prior to game time we will get a show up fee, half the game fee.

I once worked a varsity game solo because my partner , for some reason, thought the game was Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I now make it a point to call my partner the night before a game to discuss who is working the plate, where we will meet, and what time we should meet. Had I done that on the occassion I mentioned, I wouldn't have been alone. I missed the first inning of a legion game this year because I thought I was off on a Saturday, but received a call from my partner 20 minutes prior to game time as he was wondering where I was. Took me a half hour to drive to the park. So you can avoid a lot of problems by making that call the night before.

As I said, If the balk is enforced, the pitch is disregarded. If it's ball 4, and all runners are forced to advance, the balk is disregarded. The count NEVER CHANGES if the balk is enforced. For example, full count on the batter and there is a runner on second. The pitcher balks but delivers ball 4, the runner on second would not advance so the balk is enforced. The runner is awarded third on the balk and the count is 3 balls, two strikes.

If the balk is enforced, there is no pitch. The count on the batter does not change.

There is no such thing as "time of dead ball". It is either Time Of Throw or Time Of Pitch. If the impetus of a defensive player caused the ball to go out of play, you would treat that the same as time of throw.

I don't know LL rules as far as MPR etc. These are 15 year olds, probably playing JV ball in HS. This was also an end of season tournament and I just couldn't understand how this has never come up in one of his previous games. And yes, I have heard some umpires say idiotic things at times.