yawetag

So ... black or camo?

Shall I introduce you to NASO?

Yes, but... If you have a half-decent attorney yourself, they'll have documentation and communication (notes, emails, testimony of other officials at meetings) to prove you were instructed to play the game with the unapproved baseballs. Of course, NFHS, NOCSAE, your officials organization, the state organization, both coaches, both ADs, and the school districts will all be sued, too.

D

I married a woman who doesn't gauge my love for her on what I get her on 3-4 specific days of the year. It's made both of us, and our checking account, happy.

I'll keep this in mind when I begin to worry about what the crowd seated behind me thinks.

You won't go wrong being in C, though. Yes, B is the standard position, but C will work, too.

What's next, once the baseball standard is good? Fencing? Netting? Bases?

Any indication on whether they have NFHS/NCAA/OBR approval to use their rulebooks for profit?

As I said on the Facebook page for UEFL: I 100% would have voted for Strikey McBallface.

They aren't wrong. This was communicated back in 2018 or so. I understand turnover is a factor, but I would think any supplier who was giving them NOCSAE-approved balls knows those won't work anymore.

Please have a session on "what to expect" for your organization. Structure it from the moment someone is interested through their first few years. No group I've been a part of did anything similar and I always wish I had known how everything works.

Being he immediately puts his glove up to catch a different ball, I would suppose "time" was called.

Good to hear all is well! Also wonderful to see he didn't mess with your BS generator.

I think @Senor Azul was trying to be funny. I could be wrong, though.

I don't know of any discussion or any umpires who wear any head protection while on the bases.

...5 months later.

I think @maven's point was that if we had the same standards as coaches, we'd all be bumbling idiots strolling around the field, wearing Crocs, basketball shorts, and our shirts untucked. We'd also be calling hands as part of the bats, all collisions as "interference," and giving 1+1 base awards. Of course, this is not my impression of the coaches who visit here.

I know it's not the case here, but I'll say this anyway: as an umpire, you should never mention something happening without a player saying something first.

The only thing I would ask before ruling on it is "Are you appealing that the runner missed the base?"

I'll agree that anything past the rule book has shared responsibility. Every group has their own quirks to mechanics and expected norms. I'll also agree that my approach to learning is different than others, so I don't expect the same level of desire from others that I showed my first years of umpiring baseball (and my first year of refereeing volleyball). But to not even open a rule book until two full years after starting? That's baffling and absolutely falls on the individual. The rule books are available for free online and less than $10 for the book itself. There is no excuse for someone working the craft for two years and to not even once think "Ya know, I should probably read the rules." I can't even imagine someone working even one season's worth of games without thinking "I really don't know what to call here" or "Wow, maybe that coach is right." Never a deer-in-the-headlights as they watch a player run into another? Never a ball thrown out of play and the concern of whether they awarded it correctly? A weirdly caught(?) ball? Nothing where the crowd is yelling after you guessed at what the correct call should be in the situation?

There's only one person to blame for this. Before I stepped on a field, I had read the book at least twice, found several online tests, and downloaded PDFs of different mechanics from various organizations. No one told me to do it, but I felt it was my duty as an arbiter of the game.

I don't see why it matters. Just give the ball to someone, call "Play," and wait for the madhouse to begin.

@beerguy55, I agree with you. This situation seems so basic that I wouldn't expect anyone to question it, much less an umpire on the field. Maybe 5.08 should become 1.01.

Fed's Preseason Guide: https://90ac9e9a-2bbe-42cb-ac6e-cea4f0862761.filesusr.com/ugd/0d194c_9822c00a6d7b4c6e91f545a202a9b027.pdf