SnareDrum

If I'm the umpire, yeah, F1's gone for the night. If I'm his coach, it would be a VERY long time before that kid took the field in a real game again... maybe never.

What Matt said...

------------------------- If judged to be "for the purpose of making a play", not a balk. If the runner isn't breaking for 3B, balk.

First, welcome to U-E, Matt. After a brief walkthrough of the site, I see there's nothing on "High School Umpire". The list jumps straight from Little League to College... though I did spot on there that the path to college work is through the high school ranks. There's lots of HS ball around here. When it comes to "pay", i guess the numbers are pretty accurate, but LL umpires are generally volunteers. Also to name LL as the only youth league is a bit presumptuous. There are many other youth baseball options out there, especially in areas of the country (like mine) that don't and probably will never have LL. There's USSSA, Pony, Babe Ruth, and PONY to name a few that could also be mentioned, as well as countless Parks & Rec programs. "Find An Umpire School & Get Trained" is indeed the ultimate training, but the only training. More encouragement to seek out clinics, not just those recommended by my association (which might not "recommend" any). Self-education is also key... reading the rules, dissecting situations,etc. If I'm one that wants to become an umpire, the sheer cost and time alone might make not so comfortable, especially if I get the impression that a pro school is what I have to do right now, even though this seems to be the major focus of the site. If I knew of someone that was in the stage of exploring the option of an umpire school, I might mention the site. But if I have someone that's just wanting to get into umpiring for the first time, I'm not sure.

Great job.

------------------------- Exactly. I should've added that I think that this is where confusion on a plate situation comes in.

------------------------------------ Thanks.

The same thing popped up last summer on here. Maybe the PU did it as he was taught. The safe was for "no tag". Then, the out was called on the tag. There have been a few threads on here in the past on this very thing, and the opinions varied as you may expect. .Texas softball team eliminated after ump correctly rules runner safe ... -Signals at the plate - Page 2 - Umpire Mechanics - Umpire-Empire - No Tag vs Safe - Umpire Mechanics - Umpire-Empire ichiro safe at plate in ny-balt game - Professional - Umpire-Empire This isn't all of them, but they seem to be the main ones. From what I can see/understand, the mechanic is correct. The runner slides past the base combined with the fielder missing the tag. "No tag" is signaled (and maybe verbalized). I've never made the safe signal on play at the plate such as this. By my doing nothing, both fielder and runner know that they have to do something and they tend to react to accordingly. The act of calling safe then out, IMO, is a bit cumbersome and can look confusing (as well as maybe making me look confused), but I'm here to learn like everybody else... so everybody else can weigh in once again. Maybe start off with, "When the runner slides past home and the fielder misses the tag, I _________________________. I have a meeting this week, and I'm going to bring this up (there'll be several college guys there). I'd like to get it right and do this the way it's expected. I seem to get a couple of these a year... Sidenote: Jocko added this back in July about how it applies on the bases (somewhere in the second link up there). In the video above, the mechanic was applied at home. From MLBUM 2010: 34. Interpretation of Rule 7.01: Appeal Plays: Approved Rulings (12) Batter-runner hits a ground ball and beats the play at first base but misses the bag. Ruling: The proper mechanic is for the umpire to call the runner safe, indicating he beat the play. If the defense appeals by tagging the runner (or base) and appealing that the runner missed first base before the runner returns to first base the batter-runner would be declared out. Note also Official Baseball Rule 7.08(k) Comment.

Have you thought of adding something to augment your current guards to protect that area a little more? My friends' son plays college soccer, and he wears a Kevlar pad to help protect a previous injury. Something like that under your guards could help. Not really sure what you could find that would fit under what you have now or will buy, but it might be worth a little time to dig into, with or without new shin guards.

So as I said, I could tell that she had something. Regarding "Bob", he's not exactly a favorite among a lot of umpires around the area, but I've never had a (what I would call) major problem with him. It was a BIG game, and after his initial outburst, he had calmed down and asked me politely to ask my partner. I said that I would. My partner had been hovering back behind 2nd base (one of the things that tipped me off) and I trotted out there and asked her "What did YOU see?". She said she saw the ball go in the glove, pop out on the tag, the the F2 picking it up to show it to me. "So, you got safe?" "I got safe," she replied. I asked her if she had the BR at 2nd and she said that she did. BR had overran 1st on the throw and had returned to 1B as I had made the out call. Now, as we all know, it's now completely my choice on what to do next. I called and signaled "RUNNER'S SAFE!" Bob just nodded, clapped his hands and went back to his dugout, but now I had the DC in my ear. He wasn't overly excited, but I could tell that he just wanted to hear face-to-face why I had just reversed my call and where the BR would be placed. I told him I hadn't seen the ball on the ground, my partner had a great look, and we had one run scoring and an R1. The glare the DC gave his pitcher on the way to the dugout would've melted a glacier. In our post-game, my partner said that with all the dust, she barely saw the ball herself and we both agreed that getting it right always outweighs pride. Bob's team took a one-run lead into the sixth, but lost after giving up 5 runs...

An example of how we (City League) shadow... I start the game as BU and the new guy stays stays behind me. In A, he's right behind me and I'll talk a little so he can hear me. In B & C, he's also behind me, but on edge of the infield. When I go back to A and at the half-inning, I take questions and toss a couple of "what if's" After an inning or two (no more than two), I shadow him the same way. After another inning (if he's doing OK), I retreat to the fence by the 1B foul line, then farther away as the game progresses until I'm actually watching the game from behind the OF fence. We tell them that they own every call they make, and I'm not going to butt in unless all hell breaks loose... and even then I might not. After I begin my retreat, I only run in to talk if I see something that needs fixing right away. Otherwise, we cover it in the post-game. If it's a guy that has a little experience, I'll stay on the fence and end in the OF quicker. We meet up every couple of innings, then have a post-game, as well. The UIC and PD demand that the "training umpire" stay in close proximity to or on the field, but if the newbie really is doing well, I'll go to one of the berms or warm-up areas around the field and observe from there. Later, I'll email an evaluation to the UIC.

This is actually from last August, but I figure we're all chomping at the bit a little, plus there are some new guys on here... so here goes. It's from softball, but you can easily visualize baseball. Girls FP 14U tourney (national qualifier), winners bracket semi-final. I'm PU in a two-man, and it's my sixth game of the day (not really by choice), and my 21st baseball or softball game of the week (also not really by choice). I was dead-dog tired, but I'm still hustling and getting to my spots in a very close and intense, yet smooth game. Rain had been sparse and the ground crew sparser, so the area around HP... let's just say the dust was deep (over the guard on my plate shoes) and had a consistency like baby powder. It was 5-5, bottom 5th, 2 out, R3. Batter hits a sharp one hopper to F1 who knocks it down before picking it up and turning to throw to first... but she doesn't. Maybe she forgot how many outs there were or maybe she heard people yelling about R3 bolting for home. I'll never know. F2 is just in front of the plate pointing to first, but F1 uncorks a low throw home. My brain said "Feet! Move to the right!". but the feet wanted nothing to do with it. I saw the catcher go down to her knees for the ball, I saw the ball go into her mitt just before it would've hit the dirt... then the biggest mushroom cloud of dust I had ever seen in my life exploded in front of me as the runner slid in. Trying to see through it, I saw her spin, and by her arm motion in relation to the runner, I had a tag on R3 just before she slid across where the plate should be. NOW, my feet start working and as I swung around to the front of the plate for a better look, F2 holds her glove up out of the swirling cloud and I see the ball in it. I wait a beat as I quickly replay it in my mind... "OUT!" Here comes the OC. "ROGER! SHE DROPPED THE BALL! SHE DROPPED IT!!" "Bob (not his name), I have a tag just before she slid across and she's out. Now let's go. The clock's running." Bob takes a deep breath, and in a much calmer, softer voice says, "Can you please at least ask your partner?" Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my partner. I had worked with her a lot, and I could tell... she had something. So what do you do? I don't mind if you toss a couple of respectful rocks at my bad positioning or lack of hustle, etc. Feel free. Think of it as an informal poll. In THIS situation, do you ask? Yes or No. I'll post what happened next later tonight. I REALLY need a new season to start so I can stop re-hashing the last one!

I think the day is coming when it will be outlawed, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the MLBPA leading the way. I really hope that the impetus behind making this illegal isn't a rash of major injuries, or a catastrophic one. There doesn't have to be "intent to injure" involved at all. Having seasons or careers ended (especially for a prospect in MiLB) for the sake of tradition, especially in this new age of "safety first" just makes less sense every year.

Loving these answers, Don't accept just a nod either. When I get the nod, I'll either ask again or "I need an answer, Rick."

I'm 6'4" and I use a 15" now. I've tried the 13", but it just didn't feel comfortable, and I've tried the 17", but it seemed a bit much. So I went Goldilocks on the one that felt just right. I do like the extra couple of inches of protection, though there are many on here that prefer the 13". The shoulder protection/broadness varies by manufacturer. Best of luck this year! Don't suck!

I see... When you ran in, what was it that you were attempting to "quell"? It sounded like this bright, young partner was attempting to handle it, and from what you wrote, it didn't seem like anything was about to get out of hand at the point where you came in. Your partner probably believed that he had the situation with the coach handled and didn't need a rescue, regardless of how he was explaining it. In this case, perhaps you should have just let him handle his business and hammer out the details in the post-game... and in this case, you may have ran in a little early. I'm a little confused as to what the DC wanted. Did he think it was a one base award instead of two?

Just thinking... do you think a specific section just for videos would work? Technology is overrunning us and there seem to be vids for almost everything. It would consolidate MOST of the videos scattered across all of the other threads into a more central location, and they could even be sorted by basic content, such as, Mechanics & Training, Baseball Humor, What's The Call?, etc. A U-E YouTube of sorts. It would be up to the poster to decide if they wanted the video in this section or another, but... just thinking out loud.

USSSA has advertised a machine that you can run a bat through and it detects alterations as well as providing the BBCOR. Naturally it's for sale to their complexes and it's not cheap. I've never seen it in action, but I hear it's pretty accurate.

To me, the humor and irony lies in what the local LL is "seeking", and the photo that they selected to encourage it. I think that taken in context, it's funny. The pic definitely brought a smile to my face and I REALLY hope that the little guy sticks with it...

They should have added a caption: "Experienced umpires! Only YOU can prevent Smitty's! Unless you want to see more of this, come work for us!" More captions to follow, I'm sure...

Lucky! Mine don't start for three more weeks! I've been going a bit stir crazy... I've actually started watching college and exhibition games on TV... with my indicator! Drives the girlfriend crazy, for some reason. She's totally ruled out wearing black socks to bed though... Best of everything to you this season........ and please, don't suck!

Not sure about other states, but Missouri (MSHSAA) has a whole section of their Official's Manual on their website for with a listing of all of the "Certified" officials associations in the state along with contact info... most of them anyway (Springfield area has two. One's on the list and one isn't). As soon as you know what state you're going to, the state assoc. might be a good place to start to see if a similar list is offered.

If it happens before the throw then it's primarily BU's call and if it happens after the throw then it's primarily PU's call. -------------------------------------------------------------- Just double-checking... something I'll be doing plenty of for the next 2.5 weeks! Thanks.

In a two man, the PU should be watching for this also and could make the call, or just be ready to assist BU on a "what did you see" if needed?

You came to the perfect place for brain picking, Marine! I'm looking forward to hearing about some of your "international experience" over there. Gratitude and blessings to you and your family!