grayhawk

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.

Had this happen yesterday - Pony League 10U game working alone. One out and R3. BR pops out to F6 and everyone (except me) thinks there are now 3 outs. Defense starts running off the field. R3 starts walking towards the dugout. He had not reached the dugout when all this happened - he was only about 10 feet off the bag towards the third base dugout. What do you do? Let them all walk off? Tell everyone there are only 2 outs? I signaled there were only 2 outs. Defense yells, "Tag him!" and R3 goes back to third before anyone reaches him. Defense takes the field and we play on. Of course, there were the inevitable, "He's out of the baseline!" comments from the stands - no need to address that here. If you say nothing and everyone walks off, then what? R3 is out for abandoning the base and we move on? I am assuming the scorekeeper would have caught up eventually and said that there were only 2 outs.

He doesn't have to pull the bat back for me to be convinced he didn't offer. I have had players just hold it out there without moving the bat and have the ball pass a foot over the bat. No way am I calling that an attempt. If he had moved the bat up towards the ball at all, then I have an attempt. Most of the time, this is going to happen with younger kids - 12U and under, though at age 11, they seem to start learning how to bunt better and will begin pulling the bat back when they don't like the pitch.

Seems understandable - some of those 12 year olds can hit the ball hard and with a pitcher moving in front of you, it's pretty hard to anticipate. Why any association would prefer the one-man system be worked from behind the mound is beyond me. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 pitches in a LL Majors game, with perhaps half of those (or more) that are not swung at. So you have 100 calls to make that you are best positioned to call from behind the plate. You have quite a few less than that to make in the field and many of those can be called easily with a little hustle. Also, there are no leadoffs and very few straight steal attempts which makes it even easier. Perhaps your incident should be used as an example as to why the solo umpire should work from behind the plate.

This. I like the way it attaches. It looks nicer than some of the others IMO.

We (the coaches) don't wear uniforms - just blue t-shirts to go with our team colors. In any case, it wasn't a big deal and certainly not something to argue over. We just laughed it off with the other coaches behind his back. Eccentric or stupid (I was giving him the benefit of the doubt) - the only real problem I had with him calling time all the time was that it slowed the game down. Funny because most of us (umpires) do our best to keep the game moving along.

My son plays in a fall Pony league and we had what I will simply call an "eccentric" umpire in his last game. At one point in the game, he calls time and goes over to speak with the manager of the other team. Once this little conference breaks up, the manager yells out to his F8 to move to his left a few steps. I was the third base coach when this happened and look over to the manager and ask him what the umpire said and he said that the center fielder was straight lined from home to his position with the pitcher in his way. He said the kid should move so he can see what's going on. This is a very relaxed league - being fall ball - so we all just got a chuckle out of it, but this guy called time several times to point out little things that he had no business caring about. He also said that base coaches need to tuck in their shirts while on the field. He told me he had been umpiring for 26 years which is plenty of time to develop some "eccentricites."

Can't help you with NCAA, but in OBR: 7.05(h) Approved Ruling - If, however, the pitched or thrown ball goes through or by the catcher or through the fielder, and remains on the playing field, and is subsequently kicked or deflected into the dugout, stands or other area where the ball is dead, the awarding of bases shall be two bases from position of runners at the time of the pitch or throw.

I've been doing 12u, 11u and 10u fall pony games and they are all solo. On pickoffs and steals, there will be plenty of times where you have very little opportunity to get much angle - sometimes just a step and a look. If the ball beats the runner and the tag is applied - I have an out unless I specifically see something. Hustle is key. Not just to get angle/distance, but if you are hustling you are taking away something for people to complain about. Get your tail out there for a run down and people appreciate it. Personally, I like the solo mechanic. I've got all the calls and nobody will ever ask you to seek help from your partner. :banghead:

Which part of 4.06a? There's 4, Blue! Seriously - I appreciate all the responses. It seems that unless you know your rules references cold, and I mean cold, then you are opening Pandora's box by citing a reference.

If you were to be questioned by a manager during a game on a call, could you cite a rules reference if you wanted to? Not that I am advocating getting into any discussions long enough to have to cite a rule, but it may come in handy in certain circumstances just to shut someone up. I think one would have to be like rain man to know them all, but there might be a few that tend to come up more often than others, or some that are commonly misunderstood where you could pull out the reference if needed. [Puts on flak jacket] What say you?