grayhawk

I'd call it a lesson learned for R2.

Message boards would be pretty boring with 1 question, 1 answer threads. It's just the nature of internet forums.

Last year in our Little League AAA division (mostly 10 year olds with some 11's and a few 9's), a kid (10 year old) pitched a complete game shutout in only 57 pitches. It was a 3-0 game as well and the losing team was the regular season champion. I think it went 1 hour and 15 minutes.

All unearned runs, of course.

He's in charge of the league and has to keep an eye on 6 games that are being played at a time. All the games are 1-man games. I'm his newest guy, so I think he was keeping a closer eye on my game. I am trying to work up to umpiring tournaments for him where I can get several games in a day which are all 2-man games. There are several tournaments coming up in December and January, so I hope to prove myself to him by then. Thanks for all the comments - it feels good to keep improving and moving up.

Since my first game umpiring when I was asked, as a Dad in the bleachers, to umpire my son's Little League fall ball AA game, I have only ever umpired on the small diamond (46/60 and 50/70) until Friday night. My AAU assignor asked me to do a game Friday night and I just assumed it was for the 11U game at that location, but when I arrived he told me I was doing the 14U game on the adjacent field instead. I decided not to tell him that I had never done the big diamond, nor games above 12U. I did the game solo and had a great time. Took a hard shot off of an 80 mph inside fastball that was fouled off on a bunt attempt. Hit my mask right at the chin area and spun my mask slightly. The Featherweight did its job nicely. I thought this game was easier than umpiring younger kids. The players are much better (esp the catchers) and the tags are more crisp and definite. I had one lapse of concentration where R1 was stealing and the pitch came inside to a LH batter. I called the pitch a ball and was caught off guard when the pitcher asked why I called a ball because the batter swung. I asked my assignor, who was there at the time, about it and he said it was a late swing and not to beat myself up. Good lesson in any case as I need to keep my attention on the pitch and not get distracted by the runner and trying to get angle too early. If I had a BU, then no issue as it would be his responsibility. In any case, I got several, "great job" comments after the game from both fans and my assignor, so I feel good about my performance. Looking forward to doing more big diamond!

Amen Brother. Nobody knows the rules like umpires because it isn't anyone else's keister in a sling if they're wrong. If the umpire is wrong, then all hell breaks loose. It's our JOB to know. One of my assigners told me that he wants all his guys to have their high school cards - not because that makes them good umpires - but because he knows that have been through training and have had to pass a rules test. Nobody is perfect with regard to judgement calls, but there's no excuse for not knowing the rules.

Hmm, I was told this league uses the Sporting News rules, which I thought was OBR.

They use OBR and it's not in the local rules.

Sorry, still doing games too. However, here are a few items: New shin guards. I have the honigs and they are so wide at the knees. My other option is to heat gun them and mold them to my knees better. Base shoes - something spiffy. More shirts - I don't own navy or cream.

11U AAU League game (OBR). Batter steps into the box and as the pitcher is taking signs, the batter looks back toward the catcher. Plate ump calls time and gives the batter a strike for stealing signs. He actually did it twice - once to each team. In one case, the batter claimed that all he was doing was looking at his hands to align his knuckles. Has anyone ever heard of this? The only time I can think of where an umpire can assess a strike on the batter (other than the normal way) is if he refuses to get into the batter's box. Even then, the pitch is delivered but it's called a strike whether it passes through the zone or not.

I had the same thing happen to my Spot Bilt's. I just used some Shoe Goo and it's now attached better than it was before. I think a tube costs about $5.

I was at a MLB clinic last weekend and Randy Marsh was talking to us as a group about timing. He said to give yourself enough time in your mind to say: On a strike: "That was a good pitch." STRIKE! On a ball: "That was a ball." BALL. Seems like a good mental exercise to slow down. There are many times that I have had to tell myself to slow down, to watch the pitch all the way into the glove. I find that when I really buckle down and do that, I also stay "locked in" much better and am much less likely to flinch when the pitch is coming right at my face. Umpiring is a fantastic test of one's focus and concentration, isn't it?

He did. I was responding to the other stuff.

That's not what the rules say. Here is the appropriate reference: 6.05 A batter is out when— (h) After hitting or bunting a fair ball, his bat hits the ball a second time in fair territory. The ball is dead and no runners may advance. If the batter-runner drops his bat and the ball rolls against the bat in fair territory and, in the umpire’s judgment, there was no intention to interfere with the course of the ball, the ball is alive and in play. If the batter is in a legal position in the batter’s box, see Rule 6.03, and, in the umpire’s judgment, there was no intention to interfere with the course of the ball, a batted ball that strikes the batter or his bat shall be ruled a foul ball; My comment: So the ball can hit the bat twice (as long as it wasn't intentional), but the bat cannot hit the ball twice. If BR hits the ball in fair territory and he drops or throws the bat and it hits the ball, then the ball is dead and BR is out. If BR hits the ball into fair territory and drops the bat, and then the ball rolls into the bat, then you have a live ball unless, in the umpire's judgement, BR did it intentionally. Jax covered what happens when BR is still in the box.

I was called out and responded. Kevin and I appear to disagree (except on Schwarzenegger) which is fine. It's nothing personal.

WARNING - POLITICAL OPINION TO FOLLOW: What part do I play in this? The part of trying to be a provider for my family. Unfortunately, the state of California consistently tries to make my responsibility more difficult by raising the cost of employing people and doing business as compared to other, neighboring states. Could I move? Sure, but I have many family ties here that I don't want to leave behind. I wish it were as simple as blaming an idiot governor for the mess this state is in, but the lion's share of the blame goes to the union controlled legislature. CA has a 500 BILLION dollar unfunded government pension liability. CA voters just chose to elect one party rule (NEVER a good idea) and to give them the ability to pass budgets with absolutely no input from the opposition party. Sure, it still takes a 2/3 vote to raise taxes, but with the out-of-control spending we are about to face, they intend to exert massive pressure to fill the gap by raising taxes even further. But wait! The GREEN jobs will save us! Don't make me laugh. We are going to lose 2 jobs for every "green" job created. The posterboy for AB32, a solar company up in Fremont, just announced that the 1000 "green" jobs that they were going to create are now never going to materialize, and they are even laying off some of the folks that were already employed. What a sham. The car has been heading for the cliff, and voters just put a brick on the gas pedal and kept the same group of people in charge of driving. It's going to suck when the car crashes and burns at the bottom of the revine.

Did a 12U AAU game solo last night and during the plate meeting, one of the managers asked me if the ball is dead when I turn my back. I didn't really understand what he meant but figured out that he was asking when I go out into the infield to get angle/distance on a call (for instance, between the mound and 2nd base on a base hit stretched to a double), when the play is over and I head back behind the plate, is the ball dead? I had a very puzzled look on my face and he said that the umpires for his last two games both told him the ball would be dead in this situation. Of course, I told him "no" because it's my responsibility to get my butt back to the plate while keeping an eye on things. I like to keep the ball live whenever possible. Just seems lazy to basically tell them, "Sorry guys, you can't play baseball when I run back to the plate because I can't stay aware of what's going on."

Yet more jobs lost in CA. I wonder if it has to do with the price of doing business and employing people here. I don't mean to make this political - I just feel bad for the folks that lost their jobs.

When I bought mine in August, I was told that they only had parts for 15s left. I wanted the 15 anyway, so it worked out for me. Also, the $99 was before tax and shipping. It was $120 total shipped to CA for me.

Well, some of them may have thought there were only 2 outs, but they weren't saying anything. If the coaches for the offense were calling their runners in (which they were), I guess the coaches for the defense weren't going to argue. I wish I would have let it play out to see what would have happened. As it was, the only complaints I got were from ignorant fans saying that R3 was "out of the baseline." :hi5:

I paid $120 shipped directly from Douglas a couple of months ago. Love it, by the way.

Probably a minor thing, but there was a call I made at third (working the game alone) where the ball came in high at the same time the runner was sliding. The runner slid into the airborne legs of F5 and F5 landed on top of the runner (who was now about a foot short of the bag). F5 had gloved the ball but had not tagged the runner for what now seemed like an eternity. Runner then sticks his foot out and touches the bag. I call safe and took hell for it from the stands. No obstruction as F5 was straddling the bag but the throw made him jump up and toward the runner. Runner made a normal slide and there was no malicious act. It was just baseball. It was the biggest test of my timing I have had yet, and I think I passed with flying colors.

I just finished it and thought it was very good. The stories from Evans about Don Sutton and Billy Martin are hilarious!

It happened. Now, perhaps if I had let it go, someone would have figured it out before everyone got to the dugout, but I doubt it. It was a long inning and it "felt" like there should be 3 outs, but there weren't. The coaches from one of the teams were constantly asking me the count and how many outs there were, so I wasn't surprised that they weren't keeping track.