Scotty_Ump

Another FED situation I've had this year. Pitcher's throwing in the windup w/ pivot foot parallel to the pitchers plate and rocking back with their non-pivot foot towards 1B. I see this during warmup throws and tell F1 to throw from the windup legally. The head coach did not know why it was illegal "because that was okay the game before..."

Thanks for bringing that up. I help my local association with clinic training and local association meetings. I'm coming up with presentation topics for next season and one of them is consistent rules enforcement from a coaches perspective - with specific examples. While coaches whining "that hasn't been called all year!" isn't always believable, coaches get frustrated when legitimate and obvious rule violations that have NEVER been called are then addressed by an umpire mid or late season. Then it really can be an issue in the playoffs, especially the later rounds with officials are under added scrutiny.

NFHS Varsity game, bottom 1st. The starting pitcher had been using the windup legally for 2-3 pitches. On a 2-strike count, after stepping back with his non-pivot foot, he came to a complete stop -frozen like a marble statue for 1-2 seconds - before continuing his delivery. Probably trying to disrupt batter's timing. As the base umpire in A, I called time, called an illegal pitch, and added a ball to the count. When I walked toward the mound to explain, the HC - a coach I've had a good relationship with over several years - immediately said, "He's been doing that all year!" I honestly believe him. I'd bet no umpire had addressed that pitcher completely stopping mid-windup. And while that's not my problem - prior non-enforcement doesn't change the rules - it got me thinking about the broader issue. There must be rules that coaches are justifiably frustrated about, not because the rule may be unclear, but because umpire enforcement is so inconsistent they genuinely don't know what to expect. A few that come to mind right now: Pitchers wearing white or gray below the elbow / white or gray on the glove Fielders wearing play sheet wristbands on their belts Running lane violations What rules do you think belong here? And do you think inconsistency is more of an attention problem (umpires not noticing violations), an ambiguity problem (the rule itself is unclear or isn't covered well in local meetings or clinics) or an appeasement problem (the umpire doesn't want to be the "bad guy" by enforcing it)?

I appreciate everybody's feedback! I'm taking @NavyBlue's idea to my association board about reimbursing members who both complete the full course and work a minimum amount of games during the high school season.

I've been following the Umpire Classroom YouTube channel since it started in 2021, and they've recently launched paid online courses for both new and experienced baseball officials. https://www.umpireclassroom.com/ Has anyone here purchased either course yet? If so, do you find the content quality is as good or better than the YouTube videos? Or is anybody here considering becoming an "affiliate partner" and offer these courses to officials within your local association?

Thanks for all your feedback! This thread took an unexpected turn when I read runners could be called out for passing a lead runner even in a dead-ball situation. But the home run example makes perfect sense, I guess I had never thought of it that way... Just so I understand - if the BR had passed R1 immediately after the ball bounded into DBT, by rule B-R is out for passing a lead runner? And the reasoning there is because runners are awarded 2 bases they cannot pass each other while completing their awards? And to complicate things more... Let's say that B-R passes R1 on a fly ball hit down the RF line and subsequently the ball lands in foul territory. Does the penalty still apply if the passing occurs on a ball in flight before it becomes foul? I ask because in the OP that ball was fair by about 2' so this easily could have been the outcome of that play.

18u, NFHS rules, R1, 0 outs. 2-man crew and I'm in B. The batter hits a long fly ball down the RF line. R1 takes off for 2B and is touching the bag when the 1B Coach yells "get back" because F9 is bearing down on the ball. R1 sprints 3/4 of the way back to 1B when B-R clearly passes him rounding 1B. Once I see the pass, I point to the B-R and call him out for passing a lead runner. And while the pass is happening, F9 misses the ball, it lands in fair territory on the warning track, and quickly bounds over the outfield wall for a ground-rule double. We then awarded R1 3B. The call somewhat confused the OT since they hadn't seen a passing runners situation before. OTHC was great though and had no issue with the explanation we gave him about the ruling. This also was the first time I can recall calling a runner out for passing another runner. From my view in the working area, I saw the runners pass just after the ball hit the ground but before it went over the fence because (luckily?) I had both the runners and the ball in my line of sight. I was expecting an argument from the OTHC like "How can you call my runner out when the ball is out of play?" but he never brought that up. And since my partner was focused on the ball, he told me later he hadn't noticed the runners passing so he wouldn't have had anything for me if we did get together on timing of the pass vs. timing of the ball crossing over the outfield fence. So just an interesting combination of circumstances I never had before in a game... welcome any feedback on how I handled it and anything I should have done differently.

So we know this situation happened at an MLB game. But I'm curious what we do here under FED rules... IMO - I'm calling the runner out for attempting to leap over a fielder. But no ejection because I don't have malicious contact. The biggest takeaway I have is officials should carry Tasers. But for coaches ONLY. It's the step we take after restriction but before ejection. Ignore. Acknowledge. Warn. Restrict. Taser! Taser! Taser! Eject.

I’m watching the White Sox vs. Cardinals game tonight on MLB.com and this ad showed up while I was reading this thread.

O’Nora would wave to the press box when a new pitcher or a PH entered the game if that’s what you mean.

I went to the Orioles vs. Guardians game last Friday. During the plate meeting I saw Brian O'Nora handing Nestor Ceja what looked liked duplicates of the teams' lineup cards. Nestor put them in his pocket before jogging out to 3B and I noticed him take them out during substitutions. Just curious if anyone here knows what that's about. In MLB does the 3B umpire also keeps track of lineup changes - like a "backup" to the HP umpire in case any changes are missed? 🤔

Open to everybody but I'm particularly interested here in feedback from both coaches on this site and officials here who also coach / have coached youth baseball. Do you try to remember officials' names at the plate meeting and call them by name during the game (instead of "ump" or "blue")? Why or why not? Do you teach your players to call officials by their first names or by a generic title like "sir" (instead of "ump" or "blue")? Why or why not? Does it matter to you if an official calls you by name or only addresses you as "coach" throughout the game? Why or why not? Do you find officials have a more positive relationship (generally defined as more "deferential and respectful" vs. "argumentative and confrontational") with you and your players during a game - or throughout a season - when first names are used either by you towards officials or by officials towards you.

@cwbaseball11 - In 2021 I went with LUCs (over Team Wendy) for my Diamond and loved them. They’re 100% worth the cost, fit the mask perfectly and look great.

Got the 2023 Referee Umpires Training Catalog in the mail today. I'll usually get the NFHS Rules by Topic whenever there's a major rule update (like the P/DH change), and I bought the CCA Manual from them in 2019. Any recommendations on other baseball resources they offer? Everything Baseball Pitchers Can and Can’t Do and Say What? How to Respond to Baseball Players and Coaches look interesting - has anybody read these and found them valuable? https://store.referee.com/baseball

Simply was thanking a fellow umpire this morning for weighing in. I’ve been working games from 12pm-7pm today so haven’t had much time to follow the thread. I very much appreciate the case book citations you and @JonnyCat mention. I did read the 8.3.3 case play this morning but was concerned that it only pertained to a pitched ball, not a thrown one. Thanks for adding the NFHS interpretations.