dddunn3d

Shirt junkie here... I have all the shades so I don't worry about matching my partner.

He was the third dog we looked at; the first two seemed to be more interested in finding something to eat in the dog run. When we took Tucker into a run, he made a bee- (dog?) line to a tennis ball, brought it to my then 12 yr old daughter, dropped it at her feet and looked up at her as if saying "well, you gonna throw that?" That would have been enough, but when he repeated that with my 9 yr old son, it became a real no-brainer. The ex ended up with him because I was living out of my business during the divorce and the few months after. He's now roaming the wide open areas in central Texas.

Something that works for me: I take my heel-toe stance, but my front (i.e., right) front I place about six inches back from where I would with my left foot and RH batter. As I drop into my lock, I take that six inches back with a little step forward with my right foot. This little step acts to set my head in the proper position, probably by counteracting the dominant eye's signal to your brain on where your head should be. (I'm right-eye dominant.) Of course, YMMV.

Nice looking dog! He's a real gem. Found him in Cook County Animal Control; already housebroken and with a couple of tricks already learned. I figure he escaped from a nice family, got lost and then got pinched. Chicago's a really big place.

All good mechanics advice, but it should be mentioned that since you called the runner out when the defense threw the ball to 3B, you are indeed telling everyone that you saw the runner leave early and you are sustaining the appeal, even though you admit: "I had no idea if he left early or not … just didn’t see it." You cannot call something you did not see. (Well, you can, but you shouldn't.)

Similar situation, several years ago, 16U rec league, the talent more like 12U. 1-1 count... B watches a fastball travel center-cut, about an 1" above the belt. "Strike." The little darling turns his head and says "No way, that was too high for a strike." Since me even being at this game was a one-off favor for a friend of mine, I was not shy. "Oh, yeah? Let's see what you think about this one." F1 tries to snap off a bender, but like I said the talent's just not there. It does drop about 8 inches (more due to the effect of gravity, I think) and crosses the plate just under the batter's elbows. "Strike...three!" I wonder if he ever learned the lesson...

That's being kind, Rich. I tend to believe he's had a bad umpiring career, and is now being shown it.

Remember, the running lane starts half-way to first base. The BR can be anywhere along the line-fair-foul as long as he enters the running lane where it starts. Therefore, if in your example the weak hit/bunt only travels a few feet, F2 probably has fielded it long before the BR is required to be in his lane. No interference unless the BR is exceptionally fast and is actually running outside of the defined lane.

I will, if you get a real dog. No need to resort to attacking my dog (actually the ex- has him, that bitch). Besides, I'll have you know, sir, that that happens to be the best dog that ever graced the face of the earth!

J/R has been falling out of favor concerning rule interpretations for quite a while; is it the only reference material you have?

Face it, you are wrong. But, call it the way you feel.

That's why I also wrote "There are other rules that stipulate what happens next..."

All of these rule cites (6.08, 7.07, etc, etc) are all very nice and such, but EVERYONE HERE IS MISSING THE POINT. Defensive interference is succintly defined in RULE 2.00. That's where any intelligent discussion of the OP must begin: RULE 2.00 - INTERFERENCE (b) Defensive interference is an act by a fielder that hinders or prevents a batter from hitting a pitch. Does this rule have any exception concerning the batter's actions? Bailing, ducking, taking a pitch, ANYTHING AT ALL? NO! Furthermore, the usage of the indefinite article "a" (i.e., "prevents a batter from hitting a pitch") means that it applies when any batter is hindered/prevented from hitting any pitch... not any specific batter (i.e., B in the box, taking the pitch, faking a bunt, etc.) nor any specific pitch (i.e., the pitch in question, a big, slow curve, a fastball away, etc.). Therefore, when any defensive player commits an act that hinders or prevents a batter from hitting a pitch, he has, BY THE DAMN RULEBOOK DEFINITION, committed defensive interference. There are other rules that stipulate what happens next, but to deny that defensive interference has occurred because of the batter's actions/inactions is a gross mis-application/mis-understanding of the rule.

Don't make things harder than they really are: RULE 2.00 - INTERFERENCE (b) Defensive interference is an act by a fielder that hinders or prevents a batter from hitting a pitch. When the catcher reaches into fair territory to glove the pitch before the ball reaches the plate, does that action "hinder or prevent a batter from hitting a pitch?" I say yes.

RE: the bolded, underlined, italicized above... I hope you do not mean that the BU should come running into the scene yelling "No, the runner's safe, the ball's on the ground!" or some such nonsense.