gdpmumin

Thanks, spiritump. That's helpful.

Ok, so I've started a topic with this same title before but this is an important area and I'm still learning. Game between the South Carolina Gamecocks (my alma mater) and the College of Charleston Cougars. Grounder hit to SS. I see R2 interfere with F6. But BU had a no call and CofC AC goes nuts. He gets ejected (obviously) and suspended by the school for two games for making physical contact with an umpire. I know it's a HTBT situation ultimately, but it looks to me that R2 actually did contact F6 and alter his attempt at the ball. What do you see? Video here. Also, by way of follow up, there have been a couple of questions in this forum basically pitting interference vs. type 1 obstruction. In those cases, when there's a question of whether or not the runner interfered with the fielder or the fielder obstructed the runner, which player bears the brunt of the responsibility to get out of the way?

From that angle, this newbie has R1 out.

As important as the question of interference vs. obstruction is, an equally important discussion would be the fact that BU has zero authority to "overrule" PU. No umpire may overrule another umpire's call. As BU, I might attempt to plead an opinion with PU, but I'm leaving the call to him.

We actually carry penalty flags with us to make this call. If a runner leaves before the pitch reaches the plate (and it catches our attention), we drop the flag, let the play continue, and rule the runner out after the play. Interestingly (or not) enough, we do not call it when a runner leaves early on a caught pop fly. We have to wait for the appeal. I hate that and I'm just waiting for the first time I have to drop the flag.

Not to take away from the fun intended in the thread, but this is illegal in DYB. If a batter squares to bunt (I assume that's what you meant), he darn well better bunt. If he brings the bat back to attempt a full hit after squaring, it's an automatic time out, the offending batter's coach gets his head ripped off by PU, both teams get a warning, and the next time it happens, offending coach gets to beat the post-game dinner rush. No questions, no discussion, no nothing. And the reason behind this is obvious (or at least it should be); F5 could have been badly injured because he legally charged on what appeared to be a bunt but turned out to be a hard hit line drive or a grounder that bounced up to his face. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

What am I missing in that video? It's just a MLB fastcast. Lots of scoring highlights but no brain cramps that I found.

We don't have umpires for coach pitch here, so I'm not sure how I would handle it in an actual game setting. But thinking through it as an academic exercise, here's how I think I would handle it. In our area, coach pitch is still considered instructional. They keep score, and there's a winner and a loser of each game, but it's considered instructional. With that in mind, I wouldn't have a problem ejecting a coach for explicitly ordering one of his players to make a move that could end in injury. I don't think I would eject the player the first time it happened, though, since he/she is simply following the coach's orders and at that level, that's all they know to do. If it happens again, though, that's a different story and I might go deeper into the instruction by ejecting the player and letting him learn the lesson the hard way. I think for that level of play, covering the issue in a pre-game meeting is a great idea. It puts everyone on the same page.

No. DYB doesn't play on full sized diamonds (60' baselines) and BU starts in only in O-zone play (which plays on a field with 70' baselines). For AAA (10U) and Majors (12U) level, BU is positioned outside.

The hit wasn't a pop up, but for some reason I remembered it as such. On a pop up, with runners on, BU goes out for a catch/no catch call in the V.

Forget I said that. BU wouldn't go out on a clean base hit. You're exactly right. I wasn't running the play in my head correctly. I was playing it in my head as if BU would have to make a catch/no catch call in the V, but that isn't the case here. I added more confusion to the situation than I should have. Sorry. :confused:

Makes sense, MrUmpire. If this situation had come up in one of my league, BU would have gone out, and in our league, league mechanics dictate that if BU goes out, he stays out. PU has the call at every base. So BU would have been no help and PU would have come into the diamond.

JaxRolo, our league has a time limit of 1:15 on minor league games (10 and under) and an 1:45 on major league games (12 and under). If there's a tie, you keep playing. I found this document from the Northern California Umpires Association that states that a tie game at the end of 2:15 is not extended to break the tie. http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13534425&query=%26game_pk%3D286963 That document doesn't apply to you, but does show how some associations handle the situation differently. So I would think you could have ended the game in a tie, but going back and picking a winner opened you up to a lot heat.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13534425&query=%26game_pk%3D286963 Last night's Braves/Brewers game. Prince is ruled safe at home. None of the angles shown in this video clip is conclusive. But an angle they showed on the Braves network (over and over again) showed conclusively that McCann tagged Prince squarely on the hip prior to Prince's touching home plate. My question is, according to MLB mechanics (4 man crews), was PU in the right position to make the call? No question he couldn't see the tag from his position. So was he in the right position? I know in my association, as PU, I would have been on the mound side of home plate, which would have given a better look here. As a Braves fan, the missed call is upsetting because the Braves lost by one. But my question is more for the education than the vindication. For what it's worth, the runner immediately prior to Prince threw an elbow at McCann. He went for McCann rather than the plate. PU made the right call (runner was out). But in any game I call, that's also an ejection.

He should be wearing a white t-shirt under the black umpire shirt. At least in SC DYB.

I've watched or listened to every Braves and Rangers game so far and both sets of announcers have been effusive in their praise of the umpiring crews. I don't remember it being quite like that in past seasons. It's as if the MLB issued a memo to broadcasters mandating homage.:notworthy:

Perfect explanation. Thanks, carolinablue. sdix00, I tried finding the clip but all I could find were a few news stories that mention the play in passing. FWIW, it was Braves vs. Nationals. Chipper Jones obstructed Jayson Werth on an Adam LaRoche single. Filing away for future use.

I was going to append this to a similar question in this forum, but I didn't want to confuse the different questions and hijack that thread. This is an obstruction question based on a MLB game situation from this weekend. Runner on 2. Grounder hit between SS and 3B. F5 comes in to pick up the hit, misses, but obstructs R2 in his attempt to achieve 3B. U3 awards home to R2. In all the action, R2 was thrown out at home and PU called him out. I'm not actually sure it's accurate to say U3 "overruled" PU because U3 had already signaled the award before PU called the out. Why not award 3B (which would be one base past the last legally touched base)? Is it because R2 was already in scoring position and likely would have scored anyway without the obstruction? /g/

Thanks, UIC. I'm originally from Greenville, but I currently live in Edgefield, which is near Aiken SC and Augusta GA.

Yes, DYB = Dixie Youth Baseball. Minors level plays kids 10 and under. As I thought through the play afterward, your line of reasoning is what I settled on. But in the heat of the battle I may have called it like the umpire did. Technically, the on-deck batter interfered with nothing because the throw wasn't anywhere close. Umpire's reasoning was that he interfered with the runner, but then that puts the runner at a disadvantage and if he scored anyway, seems like he earned it. My final decision is give the kid the run and teach the on-deck batter when to proceed to the box.

I was a dad in the stands for this game, but the situation will prove educational for me. Game situation: DYB Minors game. 1 out, runner on 1st. Batter looks at a ball, but the pitch gets by F2. 1BC instructs R1 to run to 2nd base, but F2's throw to F4 is wide and zooms into the outfield. Of course, everyone in the stands is yelling and in the commotion, batter think he's being instructed to run to first, so he drops his bat and does. When the on-deck batter sees batter run to first, he moves to the batter's box. The play is still going on. R1 has since been instructed to round third and head for home. Throw from outfield to F2, again, is well wide of the mark and there really is no play at home. But because the new batter has moved to the batter's box, Umpire rules runner out because of interference. No run scored. Of course, there's no penalty for the batter; he simply returns to finish his at-bat. As I read the rule, interference has to impede a defensive player from making a play on the runner. Since there was no play, I could be talked into a no-interference call. But something must be said of the new batter heading to the box while the play is still going on. In the heat of the game, I'm pretty sure I would have made the same call the Umpire did. But thinking through the scenario afterward has my mind going back and forth. Like I said, I was a dad in the stands but because I'm new to umpiring, I'm watching the Umpire as much as I am the game so I can learn.

Well that's not good news. Fortunately I haven't seen any. It's a matter of time, I'm sure.

Good morning. My name is Gregory Pittman, and I'm a brand new DYB umpire. I was behind the plate for my very first game (a scrimmage) a week ago. So I'm still learning. The posts on this forum have been helpful as I think through game scenarios. Sticky situations are rare at my level of ball, but I want to make sure I don't blow it when it happens. Have a great day.