Nazrat

Last year, I was in B and the LF kept making crazy whooping noises constantly. It was almost every pitch that would result in him whooping loudly and then sneezing. I turned to the SS and asked if the LF was going to do that all game. He told me that the LF had Tourette's. I said OK and turned around. We never discussed it again. This was HS varsity and it never became an issue once I knew that it was involuntary. He played the whole game. There was never an issue at the plate, on the bases, or in the field with him. I was slightly embarassed with myself for asking the question but later realized that any LF creating that much noise is going to draw attention. If the coach would have mentioned it at the plate meeting, it would have made it easier for the umpires. Just a story.

They are allowed by our chapter in Beaumont and the state website allows them. Who is telling you that you can't wear pro blue? Black is the new official TASO base color effective in 2015 or 2016. So, that is clearly allowed.

My favorite part of this was showing the play to my 13 year old who immediately said, "That's obstruction." He was asleep during the game and I did not explain what was about to happen. Proud father today.

I always end up with a strikeout looking when I work my sons' scrimmages. In the last one, my 12 year old gave me the stink eye after the 3rd strike and I told the coach to replace him or I would eject him. I refuse to work their actual games. My sons don't like the outside corner while hitting. Pitching is a different story.

The application is invaluable for taking your test. You can search for a term and get references from both the rule book and the case manual. It beats flipping pages endlessly.

They do sell them. http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Umpires-Manual-Mechanics/dp/0982243707/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360068687&sr=8-2&keywords=taso+baseball The manual isn't terrible. It is solid for basic instruction for new umpires. Some advanced mechanics are missing IMO.

In Texas, many of the JV baseball coaches are actually football assistants who have to work baseball as part of their contract. Those are always fun games to umpire.

I found black but not navy. Thanks for the tip. My wife does not thank you.

Don't laugh. We had a member of our association actually do that last season. It was embarrassing.

The District UIC in our area is still placing it on the managers. I will print the lists out and carry them around. That wouldn't have resolved this issue as their league has been causing issues at the district level all season. It was just weird that anyone would not believe that the bat rule is not actual rule.

Last night in a 12 year old LL Allstar game, the VT manager challenged the bats of the HT. I am tournament director. PU asks me for the interpretation on whether the bat is legal or not. I explain that, if the HT has the LL list and that bat is on it, the bat is approved for play. The HT assistant coach proceeds to waive the LL green book over his head while stating, "I go by the rules not by any list." Luckily for us, the local news crew was there and chose not to broadcast that particular activity but did broadcast the bat challenge and the resulting catcher's mitt challenge by the HT after their bats were declared illegal. It was a long night.

In our league, ejection from any regular season game is an automatic disqualifier to be the all-star coach. It isn't up for discussion. If it was an unfair ejection, then bring it to the board. However, we haven't found an ejection to be unfair yet. It calmed our league down quickly as the all-star mangers are elected by the board.

I have nothing on the runner as the game ball is sitting against the backstop. He can keep running until the defensive team figures it out. I don't really see what advantage was gained by the offensive team by the on deck batter "helping" by tossing in another ball.

Mtnump, I am not disagreeing that you quoted the relevant portion of the rule. I agree that it applies to all levels of play. However, the fact that the sentence preceding the quoted sentence refers to game day situations only is valuable context if there is an argument that a coach cannot practice with a player on non-game days. Context is needed due to the fact that Rule 3 is entitled Game Preliminaries and part of 3.09 refers to conduct during the game limits how the warm up rule should be applied IMO. I am not disagreeing with your quote. However, the entire rule should be cited to clarify the context of the rule. Thanks.

That is not the entire rule. Rules need context to be properly interpreted.

I was wearing my Wilson Gold and the Champro Magnesium mask with a 6" throat guard last Tuesday for HS JV game. Curve ball in the dirt bounces untouched into the throat guard. The throat guard was hit hard enough that it lodged inside the Wilson Gold. I had to remove my mask to clear the jam. I was very thankful for that throat guard as nothing hit my body. In fact, one of the parents complimented the catcher on doing a good job blocking the ball. I don't want to risk not having it.

Don, I would be interested to know where you believe the rules jurisdiction stops. Since I am a LL president and an adult, can I not throw with my sons in our yard? Is it location so that I cannot throw on a LL field during practice? Since Rule 3 is entitled "Game Preliminaries", I would argue that the rule is limited to games and pre-game. Rule 3.09 even starts with adults behavior during the game. I would be interested to know who decided that this rule applied to practices also. That message has not been given in my area and would be challenged if it was attempted.

We always use the number but I don't have a rule citation to give you.

In addition to umpiring high school ball, I am the president of the local little league. Since we use volunteer umpires, our equipment is fairly rudimentary. We loan shin guards, face mask and the balloon/raft chest protector to each umpire for that day's game. I would like to upgrade the chest protectors first as the rafts are a pain to work with for everyone. However, I am torn between my tastes for adequate protection and the prices that the league can afford. What type of inexpensive CP would you recommend for 14 and under and 12 and under LL? We will probably have to buy 6 of them. Thanks for the input.

Yep, I have a DH starting at 4:30 today. Weather looks great and I get to call my first regular season game. I am excited!

I have nothing.

UIC, I am a first year high school umpire. Having done LL for a while, I am familiar with 2 man rotation and have been trying my best to perfect the rotations during our scrimmages. We have had so many umpires at our last 2 scrimmages that we have tried to work 3 man. It is like speaking Chinese and learning Japanese at the same time. I find myself locking up when in A as to whether or not I get to the working area or not. So, I know exactly what you are thinking. My mind and body are stopping and starting in mid step as I try to reconcile the conflicting mechanics. Hopefully, this gets better soon. I also had feeling like an FNG. :blink:

How do you get access to it? My Id and password don't seem to work on the mobile version of the site.

Warren, I used the mobile version today and it worked very well. I am impressed with the new layout. Thanks.

I have my first meeting tonight. Hopefully, I will get training scheduled and be on the field soon.