yawetag

The third out was on the batter-runner prior to him reaching first base. No run.

Therein lies the problem - it's more around 50% in high school.

I think you're in the wrong thread, @dumbdumb.

The first PG-13 movie was Red Dawn, released on August 10, 1984. Karate Kid was released on July 2, 1984.

I wore similar setups for over a dozen years. The only time it prevented me from focusing on outside noises was when someone was talking. Based on this only being used for pitching signs, that shouldn't affect any hearing during play. The NFL has been using them for years and, AFAIK, no issues. I know the comments to the on-field helmets are still coded, so I'd suppose the same would be true for baseball. Also, with today's technology, you can digitally scramble with auto-channel changing and such. It would take knowing whatever "code" is in their encryption (which can change between games and innings) to "hack".

@The Short Umpire, you must not have much experience with Referee Magazine (the people who publish the newsletter). I don't know their process of obtaining photos for their publications, but they are frequently by the same few people and have little regard to written and unwritten mechanics for the officials they portray. Not only baseball, but all sports.

Agreed. If the funds magically appear, they'd have better results by taking that extra umpire fee and paying it to the two that already show up. That would attract more to the craft. Not saying that money is the reason most of us do it, but it doesn't hurt. Especially in a sport where officials typically have to spend a few hundred dollars before they even enter the field.

I wear prescription sunglasses. If I took them off, I'd be squinting. Not sure which is less professional.

More chance of being seen. But it does make it just a bit harder to even get into the minors.

The bigger question here is why it's Garciaparra, when everyone knows him as Nomar.

None of the teams were above AA-level. I don't know the numbers, but I'll bet there's enough turnover of umpires at the lower levels that no one is getting fired specifically because of the lower number of teams in the leagues.

Exactly. Basketball and football are the easiest for game admin to control - it's "the" game of the day. Site management is there the whole time. But in baseball, you're lucky to see the admin once while you're there, especially if there's another game going on.

I'm 100% against any umpire interacting with the fans. This situation is why. That said, this umpire was in a no-win situation - and I hate that. If he'd simply ignored the fans, they wouldn't have stopped. If he'd gone to the coach, it's a toss-up if he'd done anything. You see what happened by trying to deal with it himself. There needs to be a concerted effort to make it stop. There needs to be penalties assessed to teams who allow their fans to act this way. I don't know how it can be done, but it needs to be done.

I agree that there are women officials who want to work their sports' highest levels. I think it's bad form to support your argument with a list of women who you have no direct knowledge of having that want.

If we make the change, the worst that happens is someone starts a new thread. If we don't, someone zombies a thread. Which worst is best for the forums?