SnareDrum

We just covered that last night at our meeting. You are correct on all three.

... and a "Rules Meeting" is required. It can be done online as well, or at one of a very, very, very few pre-scheduled meetings with an interpreter.

In Missouri, the 50 question Part 2 is available from March 18 through April 15. Not taking or passing it results in probation which makes you ineligible to work the post-season. Fellow MO guys, correct me if I'm wrong, but Part I seems to be only given to new umpires or those that let their certification lapse. (It says "Part 1 Exempt" on my Official's page and I ain't gonna' push it!) To get the Part 1, I guess you'd have to get access to it and try to print it, or find someone to do it for you. But I think (uh-oh) that there are a series of tests that keep the Q's & A's mixed up but keep the content basically the same.

--------------------------------------- Thanks! That's kinda' how I thought they would treat it. Now, it's just the waiting game for OBR 2013. Best of luck at the remainder of school!!

Stan the Man! On of my absolute favorite players of all time.

---------------------------- BTW, while I've had very few problems with it, others certainly have. I was just in the Play Store looking at something else, and I noticed that the PP app was about 50/50 on good reviews to bad ones.

I have one as well, also for other reasons. I use PP's check capture feature pretty often for my umpiring pay (takes four days, but still saves me some hassle), but if they wanted to pay up with a card right then and there, I'd have no objection.

------------------------------- Favorite Baseball Song: "Dying Cubs Fan last Request" (it is now!) and 2nd, "Centerfield". Favorite Baseball Movie: "Major League", but I'll leave room for "42". Loved "61", too. Favorite MLB Team(s); The Cubs by a percentage point over the Royals. I'm just into hope & suffering, I guess. Favorite Moment(s): Besides my first game at Wrigley, I took my dad and nephew to a Cards vs. Cubs game at (new) Busch Stadium. My dad's a big Cards fan so he was absolutely giddy as Pujols had another career night and won the game. The game night pic, "three generations of fans"... two in STL garb and me in my Cubs wear... has been sadly misplaced. Another one would be when, again with my dad, back in 1980 when George Brett was chasing .400, we were at the game the day he went past it for the first time that summer. He knocked a double off of the LCF wall as the crowd went nuts. Bonus Moment: KC winnning the WS in '85. Now if I can just get my Cubs to finally... *sigh*....

Hey there Sam! Welcome to UE!!

Our city leagues have a NEW policy that cancels all games if the temp or windchill is forecast to go below 32. Before it went into place a couple of years ago, there were nights when it got down to the low 20s. I've also had a couple of times where the last game of the evening got cancelled due to a blown forecast. HS games they'll leave up to the coaches. Last time I heard of HS games getting wiped out we had temps in teens and snow on the way. I've never stopped a game due to temperature after starting it... as much as I wanted to. The policy kicked in after much moaning and whining from parents and coaches. When the last game ended it was 20 degrees. Felt like it took a week for my ears to thaw out... among other things.

First, I hate the wording of this question, with the extra negative and the fictitious umpire making a ruling. How about asking, "True of False: This is an infield fly." Second, why does it matter after the ball was caught? (Not a trick question.) Third, batted balls have to include bunts. Look at section 2-5. If we say bunts aren't batted balls, then bunts cannot be fair balls. That's crazy, so let's not say that. Check swings are also batted balls and could be an infield fly, even though, at the moment of contact, the batter had stopped trying to make contact. Nevertheless, I think this is still part of a bunt attempt and therefore not an IFF. So, ummm, true. It might help to know what the batter is doing with his hands in the description. ------------------------------------------------- Now that's why on the tests and quizzes I always go back and re-read the question and answer choices a few times. I missed that extra negative. I'm not changing my answer... I'm still going with not calling the IFF based on the info in the question, thus making my choice "True". Too bad there's no eraser on the Internet

If you need a break from poring over rule books today, this could either get a grin or a head shake (or both) out of some of you... especially the breaking down of the steps of the FTTTTF. Baseball Prospectus | Overthinking It: A Fond Farewell to the Fake to Third

---------------------- It could just be some sort of "trial baloon" to gauge response before they make a final decision or hammer out the wording that covers the move. Or maybe even as a way to get the news spreading before they do. It'd have to (?) be something that would cover the move like "It is a balk when... The pitcher, while touching his plate, feints a throw to first base or third base and fails to complete the throw." I guess we'll know for sure within the next 2-3 weeks.

Very interesting poll results... What do you make of a potential rule change that would make the fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move a balk? - Sportsnation - ESPN

NFHS Baseball 2013 is now available on Android in the Google Play store for $5.99. It includes the Case Book, as well. I downloaded it last night and so far, no complaints at all. It includes a search feature and bookmarking. https://play.google....nVsZXMyMDEzIl0.

A swing doesn't have to initiate a batted ball. Never has. How many times have we all seen a kid duck a a pitch and have it hit his bat above or behind his head? Or the batter leans back on an inside pitch and it ricochets off the knob of the bat? The fair batted ball trickles in front of the plate without a swing, ball's in play, and the fun begins. Lots of things to look at as this HTBT play develops. Regarding the OP, agreed it could have been a little clearer. Answering "False" would mean that you saw no attempt at a bunt and the ball was batted high enough. "True" would mean that you saw him still attempting to bunt, or judged it a line drive. As it's written, and due to it's source, I'm still leaning towards false.

Great question. To be an IFF, it can't be an attempted bunt or a line drive. A bunt by basic definition is still considered a "batted ball". Beyond "attempted bunt", there's nothing at all in the rule that dictates what kind of swing is required. It has to be batted (hit the bat held by the batter), not a line drive or an attempted bunt, and caught with ordinary effort by an infielder. This is probably a HTBT... was he still attempting the bunt or did he abandon the attempt to bail out? ...but as that question is written, I'm leaning towards false. If I believe that he's no longer attempting to bunt it's an IFF. If I decide he still was, then I just signal the out. (WHAT IF... there's no attempt for the bunt, and the pitch hits the bat without a swing for the popup to the pitcher in the same situation?) I'm going to mull this over a little more. Be back in a bit. No rock throwing please.

They usually have any new rules in place by early February so they can have it all set and in print by MLB Spring training. I like being aware of major changes being discussed, especially ones that have made it this far and could happen this soon. If it goes into OBR 2013, it will have an effect on a LOT of leagues that use OBR that very day. If it does, I'll enforce it. If not, no worries.

Possibly... a document camera might do the trick. (Camera to PC to projector) The one I use for my job has pretty good quality and it folds up small enough to fit into my laptop bag. They're not cheap though, and they're definitely in that "get what you pay for" category. Some light Googling will give you a pretty goodd idea of whhat's out there. Oh, and I just DL'd the Android app. I'm really liking it so far. Thanks, but on the other rulebook thread in HS I found this link from Alec7: http://www.leaguelineup.com/rrbl/files/2012_NFHS_RuleCaseBook.pdf How they merged the rule book and case book into one PDF I don't know but the 2012 will suffice for training purposes. Don't worry, I don't put them to sleep with continuous PP slides or rulebook pages. ---------------------------- Cool! And thanks for that link. Maybe after I upgrade some of my equipment and stash some cash, I'll get one of those spiffy phones like Warren's!

Possibly... a document camera might do the trick. (Camera to PC to projector) The one I use for my job has pretty good quality and it folds up small enough to fit into my laptop bag. They're not cheap though, and they're definitely in that "get what you pay for" category. Some light Googling will give you a pretty goodd idea of whhat's out there. Oh, and I just DL'd the Android app. I'm really liking it so far.

I've heard the rumblings for a couple of years now, and it looks like they may finally do it. "The fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move now would be considered a balk. Baseball's Playing Rules Committee voted last year to outlaw the trick move, but the union vetoed that change temporarily, pending further discussion. MLB has the ability to implement that change unilaterally for this season, but is hopeful the players will agree to the new rule so it can be implemented jointly, sources said." (via ESPN) I'm sure there's more coming on this, and since a lot of the games I work use OBR, I hope they make the change very soon. Article ---> Interpreters able to approach mound to help foreign-born pitchers, sources say - ESPN

I'll have it Wednesday. Thanks!

-------------------------- I read through it again, and here's the quote from NFHS: "In lieu of using that signal when one of the seven scenarios that constitute a delayed dead ball situation occurs, the umpire will allow for playing action to cease, call “Time!â€, identify the infraction and make his award."

------------------------------------------- First, here's a web link to the NFHS presentation on my Google Drive for those of you that don't have PowerPoint ---> http://goo.gl/CT1xv It should open and work just like PPT, and should be accessible on most mobile devices. Second, Richvee... good question and thanks for that post back in November. I just happened to trip over this when I went digging for more info. After talking with a couple of guys that I work with often, and from what I've been able to learn so far, it's a "say nothing" without the signal until the play ends. More to come?

Yes but were does it officially say this besides an unofficial powerpoint. http://umpire-empire.com/index.php/topic/51091-nfhs-delayed-dead-ball-mechanic/?p=142945 from November 25th, 2012... http://umpire-empire.com/index.php/topic/51097-ode-to-a-dead-rule-mechanic-or-equipment/?p=142975 from November 26th, 2012... Both unofficial posts... http://www.nchsaa.org/page.php?mode=privateview&pageID=110#.UO7fAeTAeNA about a third of the way down the NC High School Athletics Association page is the original PowerPoint by NFHS Rules Editor B. Eliot Hopkins. He seems to be a pretty reliable guy. "Based upon the recommendation of the Umpires Manual subcommittee, the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee eliminated the delayed-dead ball signal. There is still seven scenarios that constitute a delayed-dead ball situation. While the scenarios are still valid, the process in identifying an infraction and making the proper award no longer includes that signal." I'm sure that there will a LOT more coming from NFHS in the very near future. But, as BretMan said, it's just not there anymore.