jkumpire

​I think I have worked with him too... sorry to know you get that privilege regularly.

Lawump, It was a lousy game, one team was very poor, I should have put the word in quotes, and will edit the post. . As to your other point I 100 percent disagree. There were maybe 25 people in the stands, and this man was so obnoxious someone had to deal with him immediately. This is the first time I have done something like this in many years, but the circumstances were such that something had to be said. If it was a FED game you find game management and dump him. In a summer game with volunteer coaches, a young partner new to umpiring (2nd year) a tough team to work, it is a different matter. I am quite comfortable with what I did under the circumstances, even if it is something you should not do as a general rule.

​ Thank you very much men! In spite of how disgusting much of our culture is these days, where cuss words that even fifteen or twenty years ago would mean a fight are so common they have no meaning, too much is let go. These are children we are talking about in this situation and if the coach is so immature and out of control he can't get his head out of the gutter then he needs to go, and any other parent who uses that language has to go too. <rant> The other day I made the 'mistake' of working game with a team who is having a very poor season in a 15 to 18 yr. old league where they are totally uncompetitive. My young partner missed a pick on a hero slide by R1 (dove short took arm away from lazy F3 and got the other arm before the tag) and someone in the stands went off. After the third curse word with time already out I turned to the stands and told him any more and he's gone. He said something about somebody doing their job, and I cut him off and replied "you're an adult. If you can't control yourself you will disappear." Never heard another word. I hate cussing, and I hate living in so crass a society people think they can just cuss whenever they feel like it for any reason in front of anyone, and I hate having to interrupt a game for young men to teach some adult basic manners. </rant> In this situation the coach ejected himself, and someone ought to do a favor for his team and acknowledge his request.

A few alternatives, not tested thoroughly yet.... 1. Walk your gear though an automatic car wash, but make sure you do not get the spray on Rain-X/Water repellant spray at the end. If your clothes are damp from the game, stop in front of the air dryer for an extra long time. 2. Go the the local public pool, or better yet, a friend's pool, and dive in with a cup of laundry soap and all your gear on. Best time to do it is just after the pool is cleaned. If you do it with other people there you might get on youtube, or even in the local newspaper. 3. Set up one of those 'slip and slides' in your front yard, and hire the neighborhood kids to wear your gear as they slide down the plastic chute. If you are sneaky about it, run the water in the hose through a sprayer with a bottle of bleach in it. As long as the first two kids don't get 98% bleach to slide in the first time they go down, nobody will notice or care. 4. If the stuff is really messed up and dirty, have a community hotdog/marshmallow roast in the back yard, charge $5 per person to eat, and use your gear to start the fire. After the party is over deposit the $$$ in your paypal account and buy all the gear you need on the Umpire-Empire gear for sale section, or buy it new from Ump-Attire! 5. If you have several days between games, sponsor a 'slave day'. Get your favorite local travel team whose coach hates your zone on the phone, and tell him that if his 11-12 year old team will clean your gear and polish your shoes they can have one game where you will ask them if that close pitch was a strike when they are on offense or defense. Better yet, tell the coach that if the team's parents clean your gear they can call the game from behind the backstop at home plate however they want, and you will listen to them! 6. Go to a tournament where the umpires do five or six games a day in the middle of summer. Tell them your gear is magic; if they clean up your gear magic pixie dust will cover their fields and the teams that play on them. Every game will end up being one hour long, the score will be 1-0 home team, and everyone will tell them they are the best umpires they ever saw. they are done in half the time they expected to be done, and your gear is spotless for your next game. I hope this helps!

​STOP RIGHT THERE JAMES 88 AND A LOT OF YOU WHO ARE ON THIS BOARD! You must understand one thing right now! Even those of us on this board who currently work or have worked at high levels of baseball have parts of our game that need improvement. Don't ever think that because you are young, inexperienced, or something else you are so much different or less of an umpire than we are. Everyone who posted in this thread has areas of our game we can improve, and some of us bust our tails to get better 12 months a year. We learn from you as much as you learn from us. Never forget it. It sounds like you think some of us never mess anything up and you do. This is incorrect, and when a guy gets to the point he thinks he can't improve or knows all there is to know, he needs to retire whether he is working in The Show or High School JV because on day he will blow something up in a big game and have to live with it for a long time. Now go get your wackers right.

In Ohio it is Navy blue only with the state association logo required on hats and shirts. Charcoal for BB pants in tournaments, heather for SB. In regular season games either pant color is permissible. OHSAA has said multiple times that the reason why they mandated navy was to save umpires the cost of buying different colored shirts, and having the crews look alike. Also it helps those who both do Baseball and Softball. The logo stuff is to the point where they sew it the shirts and print it on the hats that you can only buy their approved logo stuff and not transfer the logo to another shirt. The logo is attached to the hat in such a way that they only have one or two styles of hat, all of them flex fit, and only four stitch and six stitch. I passionately hate it, I hate flex fit hats, and I've used only eight stitch hats for years. I look like a tool wearing such an embarrassing brim on a baseball field. It is interesting that sometimes cost for umpires matter, but then the upcharge for logo shirts and hats is a lot of money over a plain shirt. I would gladly pay an upcharge to have a good eight stitch hat, but that will never happen either. Note: Honigs says the now sell OHSAA hats win wool or mesh and have eight stitch hats. Will see if they are any good or not.

​ ​ You are both wrong, with all due respect. Being in B gets you a better look at the money call on R3/R1, the possible, probable wacker at 1B at the back end of a double play. It likely will help on a pick or a steal, but they are calls of secondary importance. How many times will a throw go through to 2B with less than 2 out in anything below NCAA D1/MiLB? Further, what is the priority in a 2Man with R3/R1? the pick at 1B is not at the top of the list.

9.01c in OBR, kill it immediately, put 'em where you think they go, probably one base for every runner. FED, 5.1.1f and g: The ball is dead, award bases as in OBR, NCAA, same as FED but my book is not handy to quote chapter and verse

Men, Maven is right here. A check swing is what exactly? A swing (attempt to hit the ball) that the batter starts but does not finish. In the case we start with, the question is 'did the batter offer at the pitch'? In other words, did the batter try to hit the ball or not with a motion we call a bunt? The PU is required to go here, and he didn't. Many umpires on lower level will not go to their partner if he is in B or C because they buy into the myth that the BU can't make a judgement from the infield, something all of us know is incorrect. As a BU here I think you are stuck on this play, and the coach should immediately protest the game or get an authority to rule the PU must check with his partner, unless it is a FED game. Inserting yourself into the game here as the BU is not a good idea, if the PU isn't asking you can't force him to ask you or take your call. Tip your hat and see if he decides to respond, if not, he has to eat the call not you.

​Sorry, I have to disagree here ZM. If he kept sliding momentum would have him hitting F2's guards or body and the knees coming up. He started to slide and lifted his body into the air to make contact with the upper body of F2. That's MC in my book, but I'm not the plate man in a D1 Regional final. He got one look at it from a very tough angle, and that's why he left the Wright State manager/HC chew on him for a long time before wacking him. One other interesting point here, and while we cannot hear what happened at the point of ejection, but it is interesting that the HC was ejected when he was walking away from the umpire and his back was turned. Not so long ago, it was considered wrong to dump the HC if his back was turned and he was walking away from you. Unless the manager really said something awful at that distance the way he was walking, it is a little surprising the HC got dumped. Comments? Also, it may well be that the HC would not let that call go and get dumped later anyway.

​Fixed it for you sir!

Well stop the raveling and ties the ends up! Stitch again!

​There are no baseball gods, just like there is no crying in Baseball If there were baseball gods: Why do we have five minute replay reviews at MLB games? Why do they play YMCA or the Macarana at baseball games? Why do we have the DH in the AL and not the NL? Why did we have BESR bats for so many years? Why is the LLWS a cash cow for ESPN the adults cheat in instead of a fun game for kids? Why can't we get paid more for games? Why are people crying for Pete Rose to get into the HoF and they are not saying the same thing about Shoeless Joe Jackson? Why do I have to erase 'Made in China' off every baseball I use in a season? Why is 'the wave' allowed in major league parks? Why isn't baseball music played between innings? Why haven't the Indians won a World Series since 1948? Why do people actually think Football and Basketball are better games to watch?

Yes, and no. I have been told several times over the years that some FED rules are written to try and 'simplify' the rules (for lack of a better term) so they are easier to enforce by umpires (i.e. shoulder turn after coming set), or easier for the players (i.e. dead ball appeal). My guess is that they are trying to make sure everybody knows when F1 stops, and that F1 is in the set position. It might also be that there was a controversy over it somewhere in the country a decade or so ago, because I think it was about 10 years ago when the prohibition on stopping with any part of the hands above the chin was put into the rule book. HS baseball is not the same as OBR baseball according to FED. Whether that is a good thing or not is up to you.

You might be OOO'ing this. The pivot foot has to move sometime in the delivery right? From what you say he is not stepping forward and replanting the pivot foot in front of the rubber (i.e. out of the hole in front of it) he is sliding it into the spot he needs to push off from. It is a screwy move, but I don't believe its illegal. when he is a Sophomore somebody will fix his delivery I hope.

Rich, That's definitely two on a FPSR violation in FED, and I'm getting 2 in NCAA as well. Unless I am totally confused F2 is in a protected area by rule as F4 and F6 are at 2B. In NCAA you will probably be writing reports if you make the call, but that looks obvious to me.

Guys there is nothing wrong with using and indicator, but whether you use it or not it is important to help your mind out by giving the count on the same pitch consistently, it will keep you focused and less likely to lose the count. Depending on the level at least give the count on odd counts after 1 pitch (1-2, 2-1, 3-0, 3-2 alright you can give the count at 0-3 too, but that is a secret sign.)

​The exhale is exactly to help you relax! Just like any other athletic or stressful activity, the deep breath and exhale relaxes your body and 'blows the stress out' (scientific jargon there, ) , unless you tighten up your body and/or you let you mind rush things. Good job, hope you saw it better today.

The other key here is track it! Some guys blink or flinch when they see the heat coming and get quick. Relax your body and let your eyes follow it all the way to the glove.

​Thanks Moose, my bad. It didn't seem that long ago

1. Get the kid out of the dugout immediately. You do know a HS FR JV player in a dugout was hit in the head and killed by a badly thrown infield warmup ball between innings of a game in Georgia this year? 2. Tell your partner you will do the game by yourself and they will care for their child. That is an accident waiting to happen when small kid sees Mommy or Daddy on the field and runs out to say hi. Not on my field or on my conscience. Remember the WS three years ago when a 4 year old kid of a SF Giants player or coach ran out on the field to pick up a bat during a play at the plate, and the on-deck hitter had to catch him before he got run over? Umpiring is not more important than children.

It's happened to me twice, the last time in a Babe Ruth Regional tournament two years ago. 3 man crew, as U3, R1, 4 hole up. It was a supposed 13-15 division I think, but everybody is 15, and they were allowed to use BESR bats. Kid hits an absolute rocket back up the middle and my plate partner told me later he thought "there's no way he's getting away from it" and he was right. The thing was hip high, hooked right into my body and caught me on the the inside of my leg. I had a bruise from knee cap to waist three days later. Hardest shot I've ever seen with a BESR bat, even when they were legal in NCAA. And no, I didn't rub it either.

PM me

Pictures of the lineup card holder please?

​How old are the pads? How many games did you use them for? The first two sets of TW pads for me were great, but they got stiff at the end of my season. Just like any other mask pads replace them every year and they should be fine. Why wash them? that might be part of the problem. If they smell Febreeze them or take them off your mask and let them dry if they get wet.