Pops

Basic mechanics teaches that you should not be moving during the tag play. This means stopping a second before the tag and remaining stopped after the tag to fully read the play. That should take priority over trying to prove to the coaches, the fans, or an evaluator that you were close enough to see the play. And the angle in B should be fine, especially on a quick throw to 3B by F2 where you don't have time to run toward the base.

I especially think that #4 will work after they ignore you. The opposing team's batter will gladly jump into the box after you say, "That's enough, let's have a batter."

This has happened to me on more than one occasion. The ball can get down the line faster than you can react, especially when the batter screens your line of vision. Once it lands and bounces down the line, all you can do is watch the defensive players reactions. The offensive coach is going to be pointing fair, so you have to ignore him. Starting off with a fair ball is good advice. You may get lucky with your partner seeing it hit the ground on a well marked field. But he better be real certain of what he saw because if you change the call based on his view, one of the coaches is going to be on the field pretty quick.

Just bought one last month. Why do you make this statement? he's probably referring to the pads .......... If you search, there are some posts on here that the iX3 is so rigid that the welds have broken on some rather than the mask bending. I used the mask for several seasons and took plenty of mask shots with no ill effects or damage, but I believe it was Kevin Finnerty who posted some time ago (anecdotally) that he knew more than one person whose iX3 had cracked at the welds. I will agree that it is a very rigid mask and that the stock pads are focused on achieving a low advertised weight more than protecting the head inside the mask. Aluminum is certainly not an elastic metal like steel; it is very much more difficult to bend and is comparatively brittle so if it does bend it is on the verge of its failure point. Coincidentally, I have strayed away from the ultralight masks (iX3, Champro Mag, etc.) into slightly heavier equipment (one titanium mask and a couple of steel ones) the past year or so. I say coincidentally because it just happened - there was no thought of "hey I need to get rid of this mask because...". I don't have a problem recommending the iX3, the recommendation just comes with a caveat that replacing the stock pads is a requirement. Thanks.

Those that have some medical training will liken your experience to this: The precordial thump is a medical procedure that may used by healthcare professionals, to respond to ventricular fibrillation orventricular tachycardia under certain conditions. The procedure is outside the scope of first-aid treatment and requires, at minimum, training in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS). The precordial thump may be considered in those with witnessed, monitored, unstable ventricular tachycardia (including pulseless VT) if a defibrillator is not immediately ready for use, but it should not delay CPR and shock delivery or be used in those with unwitnessed out of hospital arrest. In a precordial thump, a provider strikes with a single blow of the fist to the middle of a persons sternum. The intent is to interrupt a potentially life-threatening rhythm. The thump is thought to produce an electrical depolarization of 2 to 5 joules. However, it is effective only if used near the onset of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and so should be used only when the arrest is witnessed or monitored. There is no evidence that the precordial thump improves recovery in unwitnessed cardiac arrest. A precordial thump may be attempted only once during the onset of cardiac arrest. While the odds of success are poor, if the procedure is performed properly then little time is lost. The provider will immediately continue with other ACLS skills, including CPR, ACLS drugs, and defibrillation, as appropriate. There are concerns that the precordial thump can result in worsening of a person heart rhythm more often than it improves it. The use of the precordial thump technique has sometimes been shown in movies and television, usually in passing without any explanation. Untrained laypersons have been known to attempt it, and sometimes cause additional injury to the patient as the blow must be carefully aimed. If applied incorrectly it may cause further injury, for instance inducing Commotio cordis (cardiac arrest caused by blunt trauma) or breaking the tip of the sternum. At one time, the technique was also taught as part of standard CPR training with the requirement that it must be administered within 60 seconds of the onset of symptoms. That time restriction, combined with a number of injuries caused by improper technique, resulted in the procedure being removed from CPR training. With that said, I hope everyone buys the best CP that they can afford.

Just bought one last month. Why do you make this statement?

I can watch baseball movies again and again...some great choices in these posts. There's an old, obscure 1949 movie called, "It Happens Every Spring." The premise of the movie is that a guy creates a chemical that is repelled by wood. As you can imagine, once he starts pitching to hitters, the ball has some great movement. I was fascinated when I first saw this one as a kid. And special effects have come a long was since. So don't expect a well-made classic. This one's just for fun.

I think it comes down to money...the HS's have to live within their budgets and the freshman baseball games get hit first by hiring only one umpire. Soph and Varsity have two. The smaller youth leagues may try to cut back to one, but most of the leagues around here are smart and have allocated enough money for officiating; it's a high priority and rightfully so.

Been there, done that...only in Mesa, AZ. Great to get away from an awful winter.

That's the first thing that popped into my head too.

Most coaches are too competitive even at lower levels. Would you want to play all those innings and just tie?

Point of emphasis in Texas. They want this enforced. I don't like it but that's what they want. It's a FED POE. All states that use fed are involved. I thought the POE was more on the illegal hybrid stance (free foot in line or behind the front of the rubber for windup and free foot in front and pivot foot parallel to the rubber for the set) and not really the technicality of the entire pivot foot directly in front of the rubber. The hybrid stance was in the 2013 POE and the part about the "entire pivot foot" was in the 2014 POE.

It may be a good read, but why does he have to use blasphemy and arrogance to sell his book? I think his name recognition should get him plenty of sales.

Perhaps. F1's foot came down in time, but there was no camera angle that showed if his foot came back down touching the bag. I wonder if O'Nora (in the truck) asked Cubby if F1s foot touched the bag when he came down. I think they can zoom in to get a better look, but you're right about the bad camera angle.

Took way too long. The play was close because of the issue of the right foot, so if he had originally called him out instead of safe, the OC would have been out there demanding replay as well. And a replay would have probably resulted in upholding the out call as well. In the video it was difficult to call it conclusive evidence one way or the other. I predict when it's that close, they won't be changing many calls. I just wish they had a quicker way of doing it.

I've had the NB for a couple of years now and the best jock is made by Bike. If you get the one with the extra stretching material, it holds the NB in place better and will move with you better when you go down into your stance 350 times a game. In other words, it "floats" with you.

After a swinging 3rd strike on a nasty breaking pitch, I've been known to say something to F2 like, " that was nasty", or "nice pitch". Never ever when the batter could hear it, and never ever on a called 3rd K. As long as the batter doesn't hear you, the third strike is usually the best time to recognize a good pitch and have a little fun with the catcher. After all, you're just complimenting the pitch. However, one of the best compliments came from a batter after he took a third strike. The pitcher had just thrown a beautiful sharp breaking ball which caught the outside corner. The batter froze, listened to my strike three call, and then turned his head to us, smiled and said, "That's just wrong!" He shook his head as he took the long walk back to the bench.

Grozzly: We are all assuming that he "picked up the ball" cleanly and didn't let it bounce away and then try to pick it up a second time, correct?

Interestingly, here in central Ohio it's virtually entirely Fed. About the only OBR (modified) that I know of are the adult leagues (men's and seniors), Yes, in northern Illinois there has also been a trend towards using or incorporating Fed in PONY and USSSA baseball. I'm not saying that Fed is always good, but I think they like the extra safety emphasis that Fed uses.

sdix: I have read many of your posts, and I must say that your thoughts/comments are extremely well organized. You certainly know how to write clearly. Thanks.

Illinois requires navy as well, but not the one shown on the original post. I think so many umps are anti-navy because these shirts have been around for a long time, and everyone wants the latest styles. Nothing wrong with navy unless you're fashion conscious.

8.01c seems to say just that. However, there is also an old saying that: "It is impossible to balk after stepping to (occupied) 2nd base" (or something close to that). There are a lot of very fine umpires who advocate this. I have never seen an interpretation covering stepping to one base and throwing to another. I have also never seen it in a game, and I hope I never do. I had this happen in a varsity scrimmage last year. R2 and R3, outs don't matter. F1 feints to 3B and throws to F6 covering 2B. It almost worked, close call. OHC came out and said "isn't that illegal?" Me. "Is what illegal Jason? Jason "He faked to third and threw to second..." Me "and...?" Jason "He can't throw to 2B after faking toward 3B" Me "This is no different that the 3B to 1B move, from a rules perspective, as long as he disengages on the feint" Jason "Really?" Me "yep" Jason " I never knew that..." In Fed, he is not required to disengage. Yes, he is not required to disengage, but if he makes a throw to another base while his foot is still on the rubber, it must be preceded by a step toward the base he is throwing to, correct? That was the issue I originally brought up.

I'm having a tough time picturing that. After he steps to 2nd, F1 will likely disengage before he throws to 3rd. How's that for not answering your question! Edited to add (but still without answering your question): Thinking about it a bit further - a righty will almost certainly disengage to throw to 3rd after a step towards 2nd. He's an infielder - no balk. If a lefty tried to do that, I could see him throwing ahead of the step, and that would be a balk. So I guess I was correct, I think. If you step toward a base (2B for example) and throw to another base (3B for example) while still in contact with the rubber, that's a balk.

My heart is very heavy right now...stunned...can't express the sadness. He's like part of the family. Every time I read one of Mike's posts, I felt like I was right there with him, learning more about umpiring. He made an impact on me and he will be missed.

2B, 3B: F1 may step and feint to these bases, provided only that they are occupied. Since he can feint, he can do pretty much anything after he legally steps toward the base, including throwing to a fielder not near the base. I understand what you are saying, but if he does decide to throw to 3B for example, doesn't the throw have to go in the direction where he is stepping? That is, 45 degree angle either side of 3B.