yawetag

And point with each signal: YOU! (point at lead runner with left hand) SAFE! (give safe signal) YOU! (point at trailing runner with left hand) OUT! (give out signal with right hand while keeping left hand pointing at him) I might even hold the out signal up for a few seconds while pointing, knowing it will take some time for everyone to realize what happened. Someone might have a link to some MLB videos that show the umpires doing this. I know it's happened a few times over the past few years.

You shouldn't talk about your partner's ability to cover 3B like that, Rich.

(bolded your quote) Exactly why I asked.

I did, when I was 11 and 12. That was too long to remember how well we ran the bases.

Which direction did he "leave" the box? Away from the plate or toward the plate?

While the ball's in play. That's a true BUY IT NOW situation!

If you aren't sure what the count is and it's you against a coach who thinks they know the count.... your count overrules his. If, however, you can obtain the count in a different way (as @Jimurray detailed above), use whatever resource you have. Ultimately, though, the count you decide on is the official count.

Deary (maybe Barney Deary? I don't have my book in front of me) was the person who gave the interp. Before your post, @Stk004, I was on the INT fence. You've now placed me on the nothing fence. It seems wrong to give the "that's nothing" to it (and you'd better sell the crap out of it), but it seems to be the right call. @Senor Azul, I'm not near the BRD right now. What rules references does the section give? Also, I wonder if MLB would have a different interp with the new comment.

They ask about that every 2 or 3 years. Either our opinions don't matter or enough umpires don't have the same opinion.

Apparently, "national sampling" is "Kansas".

That's obstruction, not interference. In general, the defense obstructs and the offense interferes.

I've always thought NFHS should send a draft of the questions each year to a small set of officials across the country. These officials have signed up for the process for their particular sport and know their participation is mandatory (maybe even a small stipend for doing it). Have them take the test with the books for that year but no other help. When the tests come back, look for the ones that are missed the most. Send those back to the group and ask why it was missed. I'm going to guess that if a wide swath of experienced officials are missing a question, it's not because they don't know the rule. Rewrite the question or throw it out completely.

You want to educate the coach? Then do it by email and when you know you don't have him again soon. I've had one situation where I kicked a rule on the field that was questioned by the coach (we advanced R2-only when I was hit as BU by a batted ball). After the game, we looked it up and realized we missed it. I'd worked with the coach many times and had a friendly rapport with him, so I emailed him. Never got a response and nothing was ever said by him after that. But I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have that mutual respect with him. Never, never, never educate a coach on your missed call when you're standing at the dish for your pre-game conference. And certainly don't walk to his dugout before the game and do the same. If you're worried about calling it differently the next time he sees you, then you can educate him when he comes out to question you on it. Tell him you kicked it the previous game but looked it up afterward and know the current ruling is correct. Would you talk to a coach at a pre-game conference about a "bad call" question he had another night with a different umpire? Then why would you do it to yourself? I have no problem at all with you realizing you kick a call, but you don't bring that on the field the next time.

I'll reword my statement, as I was under the assumption the context after your "NFHS rules aren't available for free" statement was all based on Fed rules and we were specifically discussing assistant coaches coming out to argue. New statement: All coaches, head or assistant, should know that coming out to argue a judgment call will severely limit their ability to stay in the game. I'll still adhere to the fact that if the coaches expect us to know the rules, I expect them to know the rules, too.

No coach knows all the rules, but all coaches should know the rules that directly deal with their staying in the game.

Thought about this as well. I'd love to stay with my current association to do this, but I don't think I've been here long enough to make a case for it (as in, they don't know my abilities). I could look around for local leagues to help with that. Don't know why I didn't think of that.

I wouldn't talk to the coach about it. Certainly talk to your partner - away from the field and not while you're dressing for the game - but don't talk to the coach. There are very few situations where that turns out well in the long run. I don't suspect this is one of them.

If he's coming out calmly and it's not obvious what he's doing, then he's probably making it to me before I know it's to argue a call. For all I know, he's coming out to tell me the coach is having a heart attack. Now, once he gets to me and wants to question a call, I'll say "Coach, you can't come out to argue a call. Go back to the dugout." If he continues to argue, I'll give him a "If you don't return to the dugout, you will be ejected." Remember, this is a situation where he's calm and it's not obvious to anyone else what's going on. The moment it's obvious he's not coming out for a non-game situation, he's getting a stop sign and an ejection if he continues to walk. The book has me covered here, so I don't need to give him any warning - the hand is enough. Then that's their fault. They expect me to know the rules, I expect them to know it, too.

With the way you describe the changes and situation, then yes, you can re-enter #5.

Thanks, Kevin - and everyone else who has given suggestions. I don't want to walk away from the diamond, but I have to. But I can't step away from officiating - it's too fun and I love doing it. Plus, I'm still in the red for my 2019 expenses! I see myself putting as much effort into learning the volleyball officiating craft as I have (and will continue to do) with baseball. However, without the experience of really being involved with the game (PE doesn't count - even if I spent the time getting spiked in my face), I know that I'll be ignorant to the nuances. Situational awareness in baseball can be a day-long class; I imagine the same can be said with volleyball (or any other sport). I'm certainly not coming in with a "holier than thou" attitude - but I'm also aware that I'll put a lot of time into learning the game before I ever step foot on the court (it's a court, right?). I don't know that the training here is nearly that intense, but I should find out soon. Apparently, the assigner listed for this area has changed, so he forwarded my email to her. I hope to hear something soon so I can start delving into the books. Maybe I can ask her if there's another official who I can contact and start getting to know; it certainly helped with my umpiring, so can't hurt here, either. Since you know so much, @Kevin_K, are you a volleyball official yourself? If so, apart from the rules and case book, are there any other resources I should look into? Websites, forums (preferably active), reference books? Once I start studying, I'll probably find some high school level games on YouTube and just watch to start understanding the flow of the game and what to expect. Also, how different are the rules across the different levels? One of my biggest complaints about baseball is how different the rule sets are.

Are you calling me old?

Funny you both said that. I have already emailed the assigner in the area for volleyball. Waiting to hear back. I know very little about the sport, though, so there will be a learning curve. But I don't doubt I can get educated by the fall, when the season starts. It also appears around here that the schools provide line judges, which means I'll probably be thrusted into the person at the net. That will be a fun shock my first time.

It has become clear to me that I might have to stop umpiring baseball. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with a degenerative disc issue in my lower back. After suffering through my back "going out" on a yearly basis, I had it happen twice in a month in 2017. A trip to the doctor and some x-rays showed the issue. I didn't umpire at all in 2018, as I was spending my time looking for a new part of the country to move. I didn't have any back issues. When I returned this year, I was fine until my 5th or 6th game back. I was working the bases and as I started to jog from my position between 1B and 2B to A, I felt my back tighten. It was a chilly day, so I thought it was a muscle issue and dealt with the tightness through the game. The moment I got home, the pain got worse and became obvious it was my old issue cropping up again. Maybe I'm throwing a "correlation = causation" here, but it's becoming apparent that umpiring is not helping my back issues. But, and to the point of this post, I don't want to stop officiating. I have zero experience in any other sport, so anything I go into will take some time for me to actually learn it and the officiating behind it. That excites me. So, fellow umpires, what sport should I look into? It needs to be one that doesn't require a lot of running (I think that's the biggest issue with the back - the constant jarring on it). I have some ideas, but wanted to throw it out there before I put some bias in the results.

Not the one I was thinking of. Only did one game at Heine Meine, and it was a night game. Brentwood Park was the one I had in mind.