yawetag

I remember a story from an Olympic skiing event, maybe from the last winter Olympics. They use (I think) 2 decimal places, so if you match there, it's a tie. However, the official timing uses three decimal places, but only two places are shown to the public. There was a tie for (I think) gold, so they were both awarded the medal. The commentators were saying only a handful of people know who actually had the faster time.

That's the key here. If the ball went under the wall (completely that is - not just a part of it), whether or not it's reachable, is 2 bases. On our fields (read: no replay), you can't see that from the infield. If the fielder grabs it, throws it in, then puts his hands up, I'm assuming it wasn't under the fence and we're playing on. With replay, you can tell if the ball became lodged or not a lot easier and then make the appropriate award. Because of replay in MLB, the players can almost do the opposite to what is taught at the lower levels - grab and then raise your hands.

Don't know about NHL, but I run a similar forum for volleyball: https://www.RefVB.com

@MidAmUmp might already know the dates.

A computer program can only be as smart as the person who programmed it, and is only as smart as the one using it. Nothing would stop MLB from compiling an AI strike zone computer. Give it the data on all the millions of pitches, including the full pitch track from hand to glove and the call made by the umpire. It wouldn't take long at all for the AI to generate the "expected" zone, taking into account those weird pitches that no one would call a strike. Then, have the computer analyze its "robo-umpire" calls based on this data. This wouldn't take much time at all and the data already out there is HUGE. With the vast amount of data, the computer can even realize when an umpire made a gross miss - those obvious calls that were incorrect (down the middle a ball; several inches outside a strike).

@Umpire in Chief, there might be some backwash, but let me know if you want me to send you the last few ounces.

But wouldn't that just help with the whole "make the games shorter" mantra? Why adjust the rule, when the batters can learn to adjust and swing away?

Make sure it's NOCSAE-approved, too.

10U is for the number of beers you're allowed.

For those who don't want to download the file, I uploaded it to YouTube:

Care to explain why unknown unrelated unacquainted women photographers won't send you to Defcon 3?

Have you ever been to an umpire camp?

If your immediate thought is if a person is a pedophile or not, that's a problem. I'm not saying it's not in the checklist, but it's MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH farther down the line than the same sentence with "Is this someone's parent?"

This is all South Carolina has in their book with a search for "social". Doesn't even apply to officials: 8. A coach will be in violation of the standards for good sportsmanship established by the South Carolina High School League for: a. making degrading/critical remarks about officials during or after a contest either on the field of play, from the bench or through any public news media or social media;

I'm not your father, lawyer, mentor, or assigner. I'm just a lowly man who umpires baseball and frequents a message board related to that craft. Take what I'm about to say with however many grains of salt that's worth: Don't ever say this. Don't ever think this. Don't ever write this out again. Ever. Oh, and it's "whose".

If you keep it tucked under your arm, it's hard to forget. As for remembering to bring it to the field, I always tap my other four pieces of protection with my mask - right shin, left shin, chest protector, cup (tap, not bang). After that, I tap my mask with my other hand. That ensures I remembered to wear them all.

I just have one D in my plate work - along with an S, F, and H.

Definitely. That's the red zone of all red zones. With F2 inside like that, he's exposed anything that's fouled straight back. Looking at the image below, almost half his body's exposed.

The simple fact the Sox allowed a pitcher to have a 3-pitch, 3-out inning is amazing in itself. Allowed it to happen. On purpose.

I know the subject is sarcasm, but I'll go ahead and post my disagreement to a "foul ball fly rule". There are times that allowing a foul fly to drop is the perfect play, not just for some arbitrary individual record. By doing so, the offense isn't disadvantaged, as you find in an infield fly rule.

@Brandon7, you might have luck perusing old topics on the forum. A good place to start would be the War Stories area. It's probably obvious, but getting the poster's permission before adding it to your book is a great gesture.

Should only work once in a game, and maybe twice in a season. Word gets around. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, hey now - it's not funny anymore.

That's scary.

Got the clip? I'm hoping it's a last-second adjustment by the catcher.

If the problem is ultimately the coaches coming out, why don't we just get robot coaches?